Chad's President Idriss Deby, who is seeking a fifth term at elections Sunday, is a warrior leader who seized power in a military coup in 1990 and is now set on crushing African jihadists.
Equally at ease in robes, military uniform or smart suits, his eyes often hidden behind dark glasses, the current African Union chairman has gained international standing in recent years due to his formidable army.
Newly acquired oil money helped fund a well-equipped army that repulsed Islamic extremists in northern Mali in 2013 alongside French troops, then stepped in to end chaos in the Central African Republic in 2014 -- until Deby withdrew troops accused of atrocities against civilians.
Early in 2015 he launched a regional military offensive in Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger against Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamists, dubbing the IS affiliate "a horde of crazies and drug addicts".
A Muslim like some 53 percent of Chadians, Deby is known for his longtime hatred of jihadists, and his contribution to the global fight on terror has won him support and influence in the West.
But at home, where the government arrested rights activists and banned opposition marches ahead of the poll, Deby has failed to lift the country of 13 million out of deep poverty.
- 'He's a key man' -
Deby, who is 63, has a firm ally in former colonial power France, which in 2008 helped him defeat rebels who came from Sudan to reach the capital N'Djamena -- just as he had in 1990 when he ousted Hissene Habre, his former boss.
"He's a key man," said a senior French official speaking on condition of anonymity, adding that in the turbulent central African region, "he's one of a few who have a vision".
But his opponents in N'Djamena argue that Western powers should pay more attention to Deby's domestic doings on both the political and economic scene.
Former premier Saleh Kebzabo, Deby's leading opponent since the pair fell out, has asked Chad's "economic partners, particularly France, to be more and more insistent on economic governance, respect for human rights."
Deby was born in 1952 at Berdoba in northeastern Chad to a family in the Zaghawa ethnic group, a branch of the Gorane people who live both sides of the border with Sudan.
In a country where scores of languages are spoken, Deby has surrounded himself with close ethnic kin and runs "a regime that has forced the population into increasing impoverishment," Kebzabo says.
- Backdrop of protest -
Like many other ambitious young Africans, Deby first chose the life of a soldier, enrolling at the N'Djamena officers' academy and later obtaining a pilot's licence in France.
He backed fellow soldier Habre in a struggle for power in a single-party state, ousting president Goukouni Weddeye in 1982. The new leader made him military commander-in-chief.
As a warrior leader, Deby's renown grew in battle with rebels backed by Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, who contested Chad's rule over mountainous northern territory.
Deby fell out with Habre in 1989 and ended up in Sudan, raising his own army, which the following year toppled Habre. He is currently on trial before a special African court in Senegal for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Six years after he seized power and ushered in democracy, Deby was elected head of state in Chad's first multi-party vote.
While he was challenged at the polls in 1996 and 2001, the main opposition decided to withdraw its participation in 2006 and 2011, irked by a change to the constitution enabling the former soldier to renew his term. They also decried massive fraud.
Sunday's election comes against a backdrop of unprecedented protest, fuelled by the gang-rape of a schoolgirl allegedly by five youths including the sons of generals in Deby's close-knit regime.
