PROFILBARU.COM

Mahamat Saleh Annadif
Mahamat Saleh Annadif
	Annadif in 2014
Minister of Foreign Affairs (Chad)
	In office; October 2022 – May 2024
Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel
	In office; April 2021 – May 2023
Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the UN in Mali
	In office; December 2015 – April 2021
Special African Union's Special Representative and Head of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM)
	In office; November 2012 – June 2014
Secretary-General of the Presidency
	In office; April 2010 – November 2012
Permanent Representative of the African Union to the European Union
	In office; May 2006 – April 2010
Director of the President's Cabinet
	In office; September 2004 – May 2006
Minister of Foreign Affairs (Chad)
	In office; May 1997 – June 2003
Director-General of the National Office of Posts and Telecommunications
	In office; 1995–1997
Director General of International Telecommunications of Chad
	In office; January 1991 – 1995
Secretary of State for Agriculture
	In office; 1989–1990
Head of External Relations of the CDR & Second Vice-President of FROLINAT/CDR
	In office; 1982–1988
Engineer at the National Office of Telecommunications and Posts
	In office; 1981–1982
Personal details
Born	December 25, 1956 (age 68); Arada, Chad
Political party	FROLINAT/CDR
Education	Polytechnic School of Madagascar

Mahamat Saleh Annadif (born December 25, 1956)^[1] is a Chadian diplomat who has held various prominent roles. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the government of Chad from 1997 to 2003. Between 2006 and 2010, he also served as the Permanent Representative of the African Union to the European Union. From 2015 to 2021, he served as Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Mali. In addition, from 2022 to 2023, he served as the Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS). Furthermore, he resumed his role as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and concurrently held the position of Minister of State from October 2022 until the conclusion of the Chadian transitional phase in May 2024, playing a crucial role in facilitating the transition.

Early life and career

Annadif was born in Arada, Chad to a Rizeigat Arab family of the Mahariya branch and holds an engineering degree in telecommunications from the Polytechnic School of Madagascar.^[2]

Upon graduating, Annadif worked at the telecommunications department of the National Office of Posts and Telecommunications (ONTP) from 1981 to 1982. As a leading member of the National Liberation Front of Chad/Democratic Revolutionary Council (FROLINAT/CDR), he was in charge of the group's information and propaganda from 1982 to 1985; afterwards he was second vice-president of FROLINAT/CDR from 1985 to 1988. He again worked at the ONTP from 1988 to 1989 as head of research.

Roles in government

Annadif served in the government as Secretary of State for Agriculture from 1989 to 1990. Later, he was Director-General of the ONTP from 1995 to 1997.^[1]

Annadif was first appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs on May 21, 1997.^[3] On January 9, 2003, he signed a peace agreement with Mahamat Garfa, the leader of the rebel National Resistance Alliance (ANR), in Libreville, Gabon, providing for a cease-fire and the reintegration of the rebels into society.^[4] He was replaced as Foreign Minister in 2003 after six years in office. Later, he was appointed as the Director of the Cabinet of President Idriss Déby, taking office on September 9, 2004.^[5] He was subsequently appointed as Permanent Representative of the African Union to the European Union in May 2006.^[6]

Annadif was appointed as Secretary-General of the Presidency in April 2010.

On 17 April 2012, Annadif was arrested on suspicion of embezzlement. He denied the charges^[7] and was released on 17 July 2013.

Roles in international politics

Annadif was appointed as the African Union's Special Representative for Somalia and Head of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) on November 1, 2012.^[8] In this capacity, he oversaw 22,000 soldiers, mainly from Uganda, Burundi, Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Sierra Leone. During his time in office, Annadif implemented disciplinary measures after Human Rights Watch had revealed that African Union soldiers in Somalia raped and sexually exploited women and girls on their peacekeeping bases in the Somali capital Mogadishu.^[9]

In December 2015, Annadif was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to serve as his Special Representative for Mali and Head of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA),^[10] replacing Mongi Hamdi who had resigned after just a year amid difficulties implementing a peace deal and improving security in the north of the country.^[11] During Annadif's time in office, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) launched an attack in May 2016 on two United Nations' sites in northern Mali where a peacekeeper from China and three civilians were killed and over a dozen others wounded.^[12] Shortly after, the UN Security Council decided to send 2,500 extra peacekeepers to Mali, authorizing the force to take "all necessary means" to deter attacks.^[13]