The head of Chad’s military junta, Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, left N’Djamena for a “friendship and working visit” to France, according to a statement from his office.

The 37-year-old four-star general has led the junta since the announcement in April that his father and veteran leader Idriss Déby Itno had been killed while leading troops against rebels in the north of the country.

Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, president of the Military Transition Council (MTC), “left N’Djaména this morning headed for Paris”, his office said in a statement which gave no details of his itinerary while in the French capital.

A member of the Chadian delegation told the French AFP news agency that the general would have dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron earlier this week.

France, the former colonial power in Chad, becomes the third country visited by Déby, and the first outside Africa, after trips to Niger and Nigeria.