The central African country of Chad has expelled the German ambassador because of his “impolite attitude”, the government said in a statement on Saturday.

The decision was “motivated by the impolite attitude and the lack of respect for diplomatic customs by the German ambassador, as prescribed by the Vienna Convention,” a government spokesman said.

No further explanation was given, but according to local media reports, ambassador Jan-Christian Gordon Kricke’s criticism of the current transitional government might have been the reason for the move.

Kricke, who has been serving as Germany’s ambassador to Chad since 2021, was given 48 hours to leave the country.

The expulsion has Berlin expressing shock especially because there was no forewarning from the Chadian government.

The oil-rich country of 17 million in the Sahel region has been ruled by a transitional military government headed by President Mahamat Idriss Déby since April 2021.

Déby took over after his father, long-time ruler Idriss Déby, was killed by rebels looking to overthrow his government.

Déby had promised to hold democratic elections within a year and a half but they had repeatedly been postponed.

Last autumn, opposition demonstrations were bloodily put down.

Many diplomats in the country, which borders Libya, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, the Central African Republic and Sudan, sharply criticised the violence.(dpa/NAN)