Chad under Félix Malloum The 1975 coup d ' état in Chad that terminated Tombalbaye ' s government received an enthusiastic response in the capital N ' Djamena . Félix Malloum emerged as the chairman of the new Supreme Military Council ( " Conseil Supérieur Militaire " or CSM ) and the first days of the new regime were celebrated as many political prisoners were released . His government included more Muslims from northern and eastern Chad , but ethnic and regional dominance still remained very much in the hands of southerners . Economic policies . The successor government soon overturned many of Tombalbaye ' s more odious policies . For example , the CSM attempted to distribute external drought relief assistance more equitably and efficiently , devised plans to develop numerous economic reforms , including reductions in taxes and government expenditures , and abandoned some of the more oppressive measures used to encourage cotton production . Political control and opposition . Neither reformers nor skilled administrators , the new military leaders were unable to retain for long the modicum of authority , legitimacy , and popularity that they had gained through their overthrow of the unpopular Tombalbaye . The expectations of most urban Chadians far exceeded the capacity of the new government , or possibly any government , to satisfy them . Moreover , it soon became clear that the new leaders , who were mostly southern military officers , saw themselves as caretakers rather than innovators , and few of Tombalbaye ' s close associates were punished . Throughout its tenure , the CSM was unable to win the support of the capital ' s increasingly radicalized unions , students , and urban dwellers . The government suspended the National Union of Chadian Workers ( " Union Nationale de Travailleurs du Tchad " or UNTT ) and prohibited strikes , but labour and urban unrest continued from 1975 through 1978 . On the first anniversary of the formation of the CSM , Malloum was the target of a grenade attack that injured several top officials and spectators . A year after that , in March 1977 , the CSM executed summarily the leaders of a short - lived mutiny by several military units in N ' Djamena . Foreign relations and growing dissension . The fundamental failures of Malloum ' s government , however , were most evident in its interactions with France , Libya , and FROLINAT . In his first few months in office , Malloum persuaded a few eastern rebel elements to join the new government . In the north , the " derde " ( Oueddei Kichidemi ) returned from exile in Libya in August 1975 . But his son , Goukouni Oueddei , refused to respond to his entreaties or those of the government and remained in opposition . When the Command Council of the Armed Forces of the North ( " Conseil de Commandement des Forces Armées du Nord " or CCFAN ) , a structure set up in 1972 by Hissène Habré and Goukouni to represent northern elements in FROLINAT , continued to refuse negotiations with the CSM over the release of the French archaeologist hostage , France began dealing directly with the rebels . Malloum ' s government reacted to this embarrassment by demanding the departure of 1 , 500 French troops , at a time in late 1975 when Chad ' s military situation was beginning to worsen . Throughout 1976 and 1977 , the military balance of power shifted in favor of FROLINAT as Libya provided the rebels with substantially more weaponry and logistical support than ever before . Faya Largeau was placed under siege twice in 1976 , and then in June 1977 Bardaï fell to the CCFAN . Goukouni and Habré . The sharp increase in Libyan activity also brought to a head the power struggle within the CCFAN between Goukouni and Habré . In 1971 Habré had left his position as a deputy prefect in the Tombalbaye government to join Goukouni ' s rebels . Goukouni and Habré , ambitious Toubou leaders from two different and competing clans , became bitter rivals , first within the CCFAN and later within all of Chad . In the CCFAN , the key issues dividing the men were relations with Libya and the handling of the hostage affair . Habré opposed vigorously all Libyan designs on the Aozou Strip and favored retaining the French hostage even after most of the ransom demands had been met . Goukouni felt that priority should go to the conflict with the CSM , for which Libyan assistance could be decisive , and that the kidnapping had already achieved more than enough . Habré finally split with him in 1976 , taking a few hundred followers to fight in Batha and Biltine prefectures and retaining for his group the name Armed Forces of the North ( FAN ) . Goukouni and his followers prevailed ( the CCFAN released the hostage to French authorities in January 1977 ) . As the military position of the CSM continued to decline in 1977 , Malloum ' s political overtures to the rebel groups and leaders became increasingly flexible . In September Malloum and Habré met in Khartoum to begin negotiations on a formal alliance . Their efforts culminated in a carefully drafted agreement , the Fundamental Charter , which formed the basis of the National Union Government of August 1978 . Malloum was named president of the new government , while Habré , as prime minister , became the first significant insurgent figure to hold an executive position in a postcolonial government . Habré ' s ascension to power in N ' Djamena was intended to signal to Goukouni and other rebel leaders the government ' s willingness to negotiate seriously following its reversals on the battlefield in 1978 . In February Faya Largeau fell to FROLINAT , and with it roughly half the country ' s territory . Shortly thereafter , Malloum flew to Sabha in southern Libya to negotiate a cease - fire , but even as it was being codified in March , FROLINAT ' s position was hardening . Goukouni claimed that all three liberation armies were now united under his leadership in the new People ' s Armed Forces ( " Forces Armées Populaires " or FAP ) and that their objective remained the overthrow of the " dictatorial neocolonial regime imposed by France on Chad since August 11 , 1960 " . FAP continued to advance toward the capital until it was halted near Ati in major battles with French military forces and units of the Chadian Armed Forces ( " Forces Armées Tchadiennes " or FAT ) . It was Malloum ' s hope that the FROLINAT leadership would soften its terms , or possibly undergo renewed fragmentation .