Timane Erdimi is the leader of the Chadian rebel group Rally of Democratic Forces (Rassemblement des Forces pour le Changement, RFC) which had 800 soldiers in early 2008.
He was among 12 people sentenced to death in absentia by a Chadian court on August 15, 2008.
Responding to this sentence, Erdimi said that he had been unaware of the trial and remarked that it was his opponents in the government who "should be put on trial".Despite past differences, various rebel groups, including the RFC, agreed to unite as the Union of Resistance Forces on January 19, 2009.