France on Monday welcomed the formation of a new transitional government in Chad by the African country's military rulers following the battlefield death of President Idriss Deby but said it should only last a limited amount of time.
"France reaffirms its attachment to the stability and the territorial integrity of the country," the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"France also reiterates that it is paramount the transition should be for a limited amount of time," it added.
Chad's leading opposition figures rejected the government appointments as a continuation of an old order they hoped to erase. The opposition and rebels dismissed the takeover as a coup and said the military must relinquish power to a civilian-led government.
(Reporting by Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by Nick Macfie)
