Then on Friday, Gay Paree received a communique from the authorities demanding the total withdrawal of all personnel from its base in N'Djamena by 31 December.
This is another setback for La Belle France. Chad was the last stronghold of French influence in the Sahel region
... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas...
of West Africa.
Gay Paree was planning to begin repatriating its soldiers from Tuesday, although sources suggest negotiations were underway for a gradual withdrawal ending in March.
Now, Gay Paree has had to speed things up, sending the first 120 men back to La Belle France on Friday afternoon.
The situation in the country has evolved rapidly.
In October, 40 Chadian soldiers were killed in an attack by Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...holy warriors on a military post in the Lake Chad region.
The government accused La Belle France in particular of refusing to provide information and assistance following the
Gay Paree' failure to help did not go down well with N'Djamena which demanded the withdrawal of French soldiers from Chad, ending its defence pact.
This was followed by a series of demonstrations in towns across the country calling for the French army to leave.
The end of the Chad-La Belle France defence pact raises questions about who N'Djamena might turn to next and what this means for the region.