French President Emmanuel Macron, Several African heads of state Arrive N’Djamena For Deby

Foreign leaders arrived in Chad on Thursday for the funeral of slain president Idriss Deby as France backed the new military leaders in the face of rebel threats to resume an offensive on the capital N’Djamena.

French President Emmanuel Macron, Guinean President Alpha Conde and several other African heads of state arrived in N’Djamena despite warnings from the rebels that foreign leaders should not attend Friday’s funeral for security reasons.

A military council led by General Mahamat Idriss Deby took power after his father, who had ruled for 30 years and was a close ally of Western powers in the fight against Islamist militants, was killed in battle with the rebels on Monday.

General Deby, 37, has said the army will hold democratic elections in 18 months, but opposition leaders have condemned his takeover as a coup d’etat and an army general said many officers were opposed to the transition plan.