SUMMARY
CDR (Conseil démocratique révolutionnaire, or Revolutionary Democratic Council; alternatively known as the “New Vulcan Army”) was an armed group active in the Chadian intrastate armed conflict over government. Since it gained independence from France in 1960, Chad has been hard-hit by armed conflict. The country has been characterized by an immense ethnic diversity, and these divisions have been exacerbated by a tradition of factionalism. Historically, there has been animosity between the mainly Muslim north and the more Christian and animist south. Another prominent feature of the Chadian conflicts has been a strong regional dimension, as particularly Libya and Sudan have had strong influence on Chad’s conflict dynamics. In the 1960s and early 1970s, the most prominent insurgent group in Chad was FROLINAT (Front de Liberation Nationale du Tchad, National Liberation Front of Chad), which sought to bring down the autocratic government of President Francois Tombalabye. Even as FROLINAT became beset by internal dissention and splits in 1971, its two major splinter factions - First Liberation Army and Second Liberation Army – served as the basis for the growth of new insurgent movements in the 1970s. Particularly the Second Liberation Army, which soon after the split from FROLINAT was reorganized as CCFAN (Conseil de Commandement des Forces Armeés du Nord, or Command Council of the Armed Forces of the North), proved decisive for the future Chadian conflict dynamics. In 1975, President Tombalabye was overthrown in a military coup, and subsequently replaced by General Félix Malloum. It was in this context that CDR emerged.
The origins of CDR can be traced to the Vulcan Army, a splinter faction of FROLINAT’s First Liberation Army, which was created by Muhammad Baghlani in the early 1970s. After his death in 1977, Baghlani’s Vulcan faction came under the leadership of Acyl Ahmat, who drew ideological inspiration from Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi and thus had a strong pro-Libyan orientation. Acyl had also served as a member of the Chadian parliament during the rule of President Tombalbye before joining the insurgents in 1976. In 1979, Acyl reorganized the group under the name CDR. The group included primarily Chadians of Arab descent, most of which came from the Ouaddai and Batha prefectures. CDR also had strong connections to the Arab Awlad Suleiman tribe, which had migrated to Chad from Libya in the early 1800s. This strong Arab and Libyan connection meant that Acyl and CDR were viewed with suspicion by other Chadian rebel factions, such as Hissène Habré’s FAN and Goukouni Oueddei’s FAP; both Habré and Goukouni hailed from the Toubou ethnic group, a historical rival of the Chadian Arabs. While little reliable information regarding group’s military activities during the late 1970s could be found, the aforementioned tensions with other Chadian groups appears to have resulted in fighting between CDR and FAP in 1978. After the death of Acyl in June 1982, Acheikh Ibn Oumar became the leader of CDR; Ibn Oumar maintained the group’s strong pro-Libyan stance.
Following the ousting of President Malloum in 1979, CDR was one of the 11 factions that signed the “Lagos Accord on National Reconciliation in Chad” on 21 August. The Lagos Accord facilitated the creation of the “National Transitional Union Government” (Gouvernement d'Union Nationale de Transition, or GUNT), in which FAP leader Goukouni Oueddei was appointed President of Chad; Acyl became Foreign Minister, and CDR thus became part of the Government of Chad. When the Goukouni-led government was ousted from N’Djamena by Habré’s FAN in June 1982, CDR remained part of GUNT as it took up arms against the new Habré government. Within GUNT, the CDR maintained a high level of autonomy. When GUNT began to distance itself from Libya in 1986, the CDR remained loyal to Gaddafi. As a result, a schism appeared between the CDR and the GUNT leadership, resulting in the split of the CDR from GUNT on 14 August 1986; it was after this date that CDR emerged as a separate actor in the UCDP data for the first time. Several smaller GUNT factions - including FROLINAT Orginel, Premiere Armee, FROLINAT Fundamental, and FAO - sided with CDR. In 1987, the CDR was believed to be able to field 2000-3000 fighters; it should be noted that other estimations put the group’s total cadre strength at no more than 1000.
Following the split of CDR from GUNT, Libya provided the former with both warring and non-warring secondary support; until the split, Libya had provided similar support to GUNT. CDR received warring support in the form of direct involvement of Libyan ground forces, as well as airstrikes, when fighting against the Government of Chad; CDR also received weapons and logistical support from Libya. Nevertheless, despite significant Libyan support, the CDR suffered heavy losses to Chadian government forces in 1987, and the group was no longer active in UCDP data after this year. By 1989, CDR leader Ibn Oumar had reconciled with President Habré, and subsequently joined his government. It should however be noted that CDR, or at least remnants of the group, has been a constituent group in several Chadian rebel alliances during the 2000s, such as UFDD and UFR.
