NDJAMENA, August 15, 2008 (AFP) - Chad's exiled former president Hissene Habre was condemned to death in abstentia Friday for crimes against humanity by the criminal court in the capital Njdamena, judicial sources said.

The court also sentenced 11 Chadian rebel leaders to death in abstentia.

All 12 defendants were convicted for having attacked the 'constitutional order and the integrity and security of the territory.'

Among the 11 rebel leaders convicted and sentenced was their overall leader Mahamat Nouri.

Another 31 rebels were sentenced, also in absentia, to life sentences with hard labour for having carried out attacks designed to destroy or overthrow the regime of President Idriss Deby Itno.

Habre has lived in Senegal since 1991. He was toppled from power in 1990 after an eight-year reign during which thousands of Chadians were allegedly tortured.

An official truth commission report in 1992 accused Habre's regime of committing some 40,000 political murders -- of which only 4,000 victims have been officially named.

In July this year, Senegal took a step closer to putting the former Chadian dictator on trial after parliament approved changes to the constitution allowing Senegalese courts to lift the statute of limitations and prosecute past crimes against humanity.

The change effectively gave Senegal one of the world's strongest laws for prosecuting such crimes, said human rights activists.