The German Foreign Ministry on Tuesday ordered Chad’s ambassador, Mariam Ali Moussa, to leave the country within two days, in retaliation for the “unnecessary expulsion” of Germany’s ambassador to Djamena, Jan Christian Gordon Kricke.

“We deeply regret that we had to come to this,” a German diplomatic spokesman said.

Last Friday, Chad’s transitional government gave Mr Krike 48 hours to leave the country.

He returned to Berlin on Sunday.

The transitional regime in Chad has declared the German career diplomat persona non grata, claiming he displayed “rude” behavior and “lack of respect for diplomatic customs”. He gave no further explanation for his expulsion.

It is believed that the reason the German ambassador was declared undesirable and ordered to leave the country was his recent criticism of the transitional regime. The bloody crackdown on last fall’s protests by security forces has been denounced by several Western embassies lately, especially after a report by the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch (HRW).

The German Foreign Ministry defended Mr Kricke, who has been ambassador to Chad since 2021. A spokesman said the diplomat had carried out his duties in an exemplary manner and defended human rights, assuring that the German embassy would continue to do so. does.

The landlocked, impoverished African country of about 17 million people erupted in unrest last October when the opposition called for protests over interim President Mahamat Idriss Debi Itno staying in power for two more years. According to HRW, over fifty people were killed in the suppression of the demonstrations, hundreds were arrested and “disappeared”.