Tuareg rebels, who'd sought independence for decades, took advantage of the power vacuum and seized swaths of land.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

There have been four coup d'etats, successful coup d'etats since Chad earned independence from France in 1960.

NPR: Chad Conflict Stirs Global Response

"The one thing I'd like to have is my independence, and I still haven't come to grips with that, " she says.

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Markey, D-Massachusetts, is Chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

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He has published a memoir under the title My First Coup d'Etat, in which he describes his time growing up in post-independence Ghana, including his father's imprisonment during the coup that overthrew independence leader Kwame Nkrumah.

BBC: Q&A: Ghana presidential and parliamentary election