The peace proposal reportedly entails a ceasefire, rejection of hate speech, disarmament mechanisms and release of prisoners.
Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani renewed his support for the Chad peace process during a meeting with President of Chad’s Transitional Military Council (TMC) Mahamat Idriss Deby in Doha.
“The Amir expressed the State of Qatar’s support to national reconciliation in Chad, to ensure its people can enjoy peace, security, stability and development,” reported Doha’s state news agency (QNA) on Saturday.
Deby travelled to Qatar on Friday amid reports over the signing of a peace agreement in the Gulf state, which has been hosting talks between more than 50 opposition groups since March.
The preparatory talks in Doha aim to pave the way for long-promised elections and come ahead of the national dialogue, which is scheduled to take place on 20 August after being delayed multiple times.
The Chadian leader expressed his appreciation to Sheikh Tamim for hosting the negotiations and Qatar’s efforts in ensuring the talks succeed.
Qatar’s leader also stressed that the Doha talks “represent an important first step towards reconciliation”. The Gulf state was named as the mediator of the talks following an unanimous decision by the participating parties.
The talks in Doha appeared to bear fruit five months later as reports last week hinted towards a possible peace agreement in August. According to Al Araby Al Jadeed, Chad’s negotiators discussed “last-minute” amendments to the agreement, including the wording.
Diplomats told the Qatar-based outlet that “there are some recent barriers to overcome before the signing of the peace agreement”.
“There is a branch within the Chadian government that does not fully support the direction of the negotiations and is trying to obstruct the signing of the peace agreement in its current form,” a second diplomatic source told the news outlet.
The current Chadian leader came to office following the killing of his father and former president, Idriss Deby, amid fighting between the government and rebels from the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT), in April 2021.
General Mahamat later named a 40-member transitional government in May 2021, that is scheduled to remain in office until the end of 2022.
According to Al Araby Al Jadeed, it remains unclear whether FACT will sign the agreement in Doha or not.
“Even without FACT, there is a majority in favour of starting the talks in N’Djamena on August 20,” a negotiator told the Qatar-based news outlet.
Proposed agreement
Last week, Al Araby Al Jadeed reported that Qatar presented a final peace proposal to the Chadian government and opposition parties.
The outlet said the proposal entails a ceasefire, rejection of hate speech, disarmament mechanisms, and release of prisoners. It also stipulates the establishment of a national committee to oversee the disarmament process.
The committee would be composed of 10 members of the TMC, and 10 others from the politico-military signatories of the agreement.
“Obviously, more than half of the participating movements in the Doha negotiations say that they agree with the main points of the peace proposal and are willing to sign it,” a source told Doha News.
The source added that the signing is “based on the draft submitted by the Qatari mediator.”
“It is possible that all movements will sign the peace agreement despite the objection of some of them to the content of the agreement,” the source said.
Section 19.3 of the draft peace project also states that all sides must agree on forming a follow-up committee to ensure the Doha agreement is being implemented.
Another international committee would be formed to follow up with the agreement, involving the UN, the African Union, the European Union, France, the US, Germany, Italy and other nations.
