country: Chad

city: Sarh

Problems:

Sarh is the third largest city in Chad, the capital of Moyen-Chari region and the department of Barh Köh. It lies 350 miles south-east of the capital Ndjamena on the Chari River.

Sarh was founded under the French for returnees from the labour camps associated with the construction of the Congo-Ocean Railway. It is now a major transport hub and centre for the cotton industry, also known for its nightlife. Attractions in the city include the Sarh National Museum, while it is also home to an airport (IATA airport code SRH).

A little bit of history

Chad was granted independence on August 11, 1960 with the PPT’s leader, François Tombalbaye, as its first president. Before that 15,000 Chadian soldiers fought for Free France during WWII.

In 1962 Tombalbaye banned opposition parties and established a one-party system. Tombalbaye’s autocratic rule and insensitive mismanagement exacerbated interethnic tensions. In 1965 Muslims began a civil war. Tombalbaye was overthrown and killed in 1975, but the insurgency continued. In 1979 the rebel factions conquered the capital, and all central authority in the country collapsed. Armed factions, many from the north’s rebellion, contended for power. The disintegration of Chad caused the collapse of France’s position in the country. Libya moved to fill the power vacuum and became involved in Chad’s civil war. Libyia adventure ended in disaster in 1987; the French-supported president, Hissène Habré, evoked a united response from Chadians of a kind never seen before[16] and forced the Libyan army off Chadian soil.

Habré consolidated his dictatorship through a power system that relied on corruption and violence; an estimated 40,000 people were killed under his rule. The president favoured his own Daza ethnic group and discriminated against his former allies, the Zaghawa. His general, Idriss Déby, overthrew him in 1990.

Déby attempted to reconcile the rebel groups and reintroduced multiparty politics. Chadians approved a new constitution by referendum, and in 1996, Déby easily won a competitive presidential election. He won a second term five years later. Oil exploitation began in Chad in 2003, bringing with it hopes that Chad would at last have some chances of peace and prosperity. Instead, internal dissent worsened, and a new civil war broke out. Déby unilaterally modified the constitution to remove the two-term limit on the presidency; this caused an uproar among the civil society and opposition parties.In 2006 Déby won a third mandate in elections that the opposition boycotted. Ethnic violence in eastern Chad has increased; the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has warned that a genocide like that in Darfur may yet occur in Chad.

In 2006 and in 2008 rebel forces have attempted to take the capital by force, but have on both circumstances failed.

(source: Wikipedia)