The German ambassador to Chad Jan Christian Gordon Cricke arrived in Berlin today after being deported from the Central African country.

Krike was seen by several ambassadors of friendly countries at the airport in the Chadian capital on Saturday night after the government labeled him an “undesirable person” and asked him to leave the country within 48 hours.

Chad’s decision was “motivated by the rude attitude and lack of respect of the German ambassador that go beyond diplomatic etiquette as defined by the Vienna Convention,” a government spokesman said in a statement.

No further explanation was given, but according to local reports, the German ambassador’s criticism of the transitional government may be the reason for the move.

According to the German Foreign Ministry, the reasons behind the expulsion of the ambassador, who has served in this position since July 2021, are unclear and the ministry is in contact with the government in Chad.

The oil-rich but impoverished country of 17 million people in the Sahel region has been ruled by a transitional military government under President Mahamat Idris Debi Itno since April 2021.

Chad’s president promised democratic elections, but these have been repeatedly postponed. Last fall, opposition demonstrations turned bloody. Many diplomats in the country strongly criticized the violence.

However, a Chadian government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Djamena criticized the diplomat for “excessive interference” in the “governance of the country” as well as “statements that tend to divide Chadian citizens”.

On Friday, an official of the German Foreign Ministry had judged the reasons for the expulsion to be “absolutely incomprehensible”.

Mahamat Idris Debi ‘Itno, 37, then a young general, was declared president on 20 April 2021, at the head of a junta of 15 generals, on the announcement of the death of the head of state, his father Idris Debi ‘Itno, who was killed in the front against the rebels after ruling the vast Sahel country with an iron fist for 30 years.

N’Djamena’s new strongman had promised citizens to hold “free and democratic elections” after 18 months.

But at the end of this period, he remained in power for two more years.

The German embassy joined the embassies of France, Spain and the Netherlands in particular, as well as the EU, to express their “concern” after the extension of this transition period.

Major opposition leaders are in exile or hiding after the bloody crackdown on the anti-government demonstration on October 20, 2022, in which 73 people were officially killed, and many more according to NGOs, who also spoke of “enforced disappearances” and “executions by summary proceedings”.