Pascal Yoadimnadji, 56; prime minister of Chad, ex-agriculture minister

Pascal Yoadimnadji, 56, prime minister of Chad, died Friday at a Paris hospital after a brain hemorrhage.

Yoadimnadji, an attorney and former agriculture minister who was appointed prime minister in 2005, had been taken to France on Wednesday after falling ill and slipping into a coma in his home country.

Although he was a senior government figure, Yoadimnadji was not a major player in Chadian politics.

Chad’s president, Idriss Deby, wields much of the power in the poor central African country and directed Yoadimnadji’s work.

Deby seized power in a 1990 coup. Chadian rebels aiming to topple him have clashed sporadically with government forces since 2005.

The competition for power has become more intense since the nation began exporting oil in 2003.