Chad capital mayor in custody over alleged corruption

The mayor of Chadian capital N'Djamena was taken into custody for questioning on Monday and suspended from his job following allegations of corruption, officials said.

Djimet Ibet, who was elected mayor of the city of more than one million residents four months ago, was "suspended from duty" for "forgery and attempted embezzlement and corruption", according to an arrest warrant signed by government official Issa Djidjie.

A police source confirmed the mayor had been detained.

Corruption affairs frequently swirl around the political elite in Chad, earning it the poor ranking of 168 out of 182 countries in Transparency International's worldwide corruption rankings for 2011.

In Africa, only Somalia, Sudan and Equatorial Guinea are ranked worse than Chad on corruption.