CHAD: Death of a Dictator

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After last week's coup, Malloum was released from prison and named President of a nine-man Supreme Military Council that will administer Chad until a provisional government can be formed. Chad thus became the 18th of 37 black African nations to fall under military rule. The junta immediately suspended Tombalbaye's 1962 constitution, banned all political parties and arrested eight of the President's top aides. In a midnight radio address, Malloum promised to bring economic and social reform to Chad. Few countries are in greater need of improvement. More than three times the size of California, Chad has only 150 miles of paved highway and no railroad. Its cotton and cattle economy has been ravaged by six years of drought, and the per capita income of its 4 million citizens averages less than $80 a year.