Chad's former dictator Hissene Habre, whose government was accused of killing tens of thousands and became the first former head of state to be convicted of crimes against humanity by an African court after spending decades in luxurious exile in Senegal, has died in a hospital in Senegal. He was 79.

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Habre, whose case for years showcased Africa's reluctance to put its despots on trial, had recently contracted COVID-19 according to local media reports. His death Tuesday at a Dakar hospital was confirmed by Jean Bertrand Bocande, director of the penitentiary administration.

The former dictator had been sentenced to life imprisonment in 2016 but ultimately served about five years in prison following his trial on charges linked to his time in power from 1982 to 1990.

Human rights activists say Chad was a ruthless, one-party state under Habre's rule. A fearsome security service headed by members of Habre's Gorane ethnic group was placed in every village, documenting even the slightest transgressions against the regime, they said.

The list of offenses meriting arrest included speaking ill of Habre, listening to "enemy" radio stations or "performing magical rites to aid the enemy," according to a truth commission appointed shortly after Habre fell from power.

The commission concluded that Habre's government oversaw 40,000 killings.

"Hissene Habre will go down in history as one of the world's most pitiless dictators, a man who slaughtered his own people, burned down entire villages, sent women to serve as sexual slaves for his troops and built clandestine dungeons to inflict medieval torture on his enemies," tweeted Reed Brody, a Human Rights Watch lawyer who worked for years to bring Habre to justice.

Earlier this year he wrote that five years after Habre's conviction "torture survivors and families of the dead have not seen one penny."

"The African Union has failed even to establish the court-mandated trust fund to search for Habre's assets and solicit contributions," Brody wrote. "The Chadian government, ordered by its own court to erect memorials and compensate victims, has also turned its back on them. And Habre himself has never accounted for the tens of millions of dollars he allegedly looted from the Chadian treasury."

Detainees were subject to a wide range of torture techniques. Some were burned, others were sprayed with poison gas and still more were forced to put their mouths around the exhaust pipes of running vehicles, causing severe burning when the motor accelerated.

Habre was born the son of a farmer in the northern Chadian town of Faya-Largeau in 1942. The country was still under French colonial rule, and he worked as a civilian for the French military before being selected to study in France, where he earned a law degree.

He returned in 1971 to work for Chad's foreign affairs ministry, but he soon became involved in a peasant rebellion of Muslim northerners against the largely southern-dominated Christian government.

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His rise did not seem driven by ideology. The final report of the truth commission sharply criticized Habre's opportunism, describing him as "a man without scruples" motivated by power alone. "Thus he would join with the armed rebellion one moment and with the government the next. To win over public sympathy, he portrayed himself by turns as a convinced Maoist and a fervent Muslim," the report said.

In a later passage, the report said that despite Habre's education, his "comportment and thinking are not much different from those of a camel thief."

Habre became prime minister under then-President Felix Malloum in 1978, but Malloum fell from power the following year.

In 1982, Habre deposed President Goukouni Oueddei, beginning his eight years as head of state. Aware that his regime was under threat from Libya, Habre created his security service known as the Directorate of Documentation and Security, or DDS, not long after becoming president.

He received substantial support from the United States and France because he was seen as a "bulwark" against former Libya dictator Moammar Gadhafi, according to Human Rights Watch. Habre received hundreds of millions of dollars in American aid and was invited to the White House, HRW says, while support from France came in the form of arms and logistical support.

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Officials in Israel's National Security Council on Tuesday – several hours after Chadian President Idriss Deby died from wounds he suffered while visiting troops on the frontline – said the transition of power to his son, Mahamat Idriss Deby, wasn't expected to damage the close ties between the Jewish state and large African country.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had developed a good relationship with Deby, issued a statement of condolence in Arabic and English.

Israeli diplomats noted that Chad was the first Muslim country in the extended region to begin normalizing ties with Israel, a step that paved the way for others to do the same.

Israel Hayom has learned that the leaders of those Muslim and Arab countries, while weighing whether to normalize relations with Israel, consulted with Deby before making their decision and that his recommendations were always positive. Israeli officials also believe that the success of the normalization process with Chad encouraged other countries to follow suit.

Deby, 68, came to power in a rebellion in 1990 and was one of Africa's longest-ruling leaders, surviving numerous coup attempts and rebellions.

As stated, his son, Mahamat Idriss Deby, was named interim president by a transitional council of military officers.

Deby's death was announced the day after he was declared the winner of a presidential election that would have given him a sixth term in office. Most of the opposition, which had long complained of his repressive rule, boycotted the vote.

Deby, who often joined soldiers on the battlefront in his military fatigues, visited troops on the frontline on Monday after rebels based across the northern frontier in Libya advanced hundreds of kilometers south toward the capital N'Djamena.

"Marshal Idriss Deby Itno, as he did each time that the institutions of the republic were gravely threatened, took control of operations during the heroic combat led against the terrorist from Libya. He was wounded during the fighting and died once repatriated to N'Djamena," Bermendao said.

The government and National Assembly have been dissolved, and a nationwide curfew was imposed from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m.

"The National Council of Transition reassures the Chadian people that all measures have been taken to guarantee peace, security, and the republican order," Bermendao said.

Western countries have seen Deby as an ally in the fight against Islamist extremist groups, including Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin and groups linked to al-Qaida and Islamic State in the Sahel.

His death is a blow to former colonial power France, which had based its Sahel counter-terrorism operations in N'Djamena. Chad had announced in February the deployment of 1,200 troops to complement 5,100 French soldiers in the area.

Deby visited Israel in 2018 to start a process of reviving ties that the African country severed in 1972. In 2020, a Chadian delegation and Netanyahu discussed "appointing ambassadors and opening diplomatic missions, including [by Chad] in Jerusalem," a statement by the Prime Minister's Office said.

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Chadian President Idriss Deby visited Israel in 2018 to start a process of reviving ties that the African country severed in 1972. Israel has cast the process as part of an outreach to the Arab and Muslim world.

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That process now includes the announcement last month of a normalization deal with the United Arab Emirates.

In Tuesday's talks, a Chadian delegation led by Abdelkarim Deby, the president's son, and Netanyahu discussed "appointing ambassadors and opening diplomatic missions, including (by Chad) in Jerusalem," a statement by the prime minister's office said.

According to the statement, the delegation – which included Chad's intelligence chief – also discussed bilateral cooperation on counter-terrorism and other matters.

In a separate statement, Israeli Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen said Netanyahu government's would send a business delegation to develop possible mineral projects in Chad.

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According to the report on i24NEWS Iran "was behind the recruitment and training of men between the ages of 25-35,  several already belonging to a designated terror group operating out of the region, known as Seleka, to commit terror attacks against Westerners residing on the continent."

i24NEWS Exclusive: Defense correspondent @MattiasInbar reveals to @ShaynaEstulin and @DerrickeDennis that an #Iran-backed #terror group in central #Africa enlisted to commit attacks against Westerners has been uncovered and dismantled: pic.twitter.com/7WA5ufFsnw

— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) 18 באפריל 2019

"We want to create an army to fight against Westerners in Africa," the head of the central African cell, Ismael Djida, told the outlet, which is the only international news channel based in Tel Aviv.

The channel, which focuses on reporting from Israel and the Middle East, has several bureaus in major cities around the world and has seen a growing viewership in recent years.

Iran, according to the information obtained by i24NEWS,  paid the leader of Seneka more than 100,000 dollars to recruit terrorists and launch attacks that would undermine relations of African countries with Israel.

"The cell was arrested in Chad, a country in which had been visited by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this year," the  i24NEWS report said.

The two countries have only recently announced the restoration of full diplomatic ties, almost fifty years after the African country cut off relations due to political pressure.

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