NDJAMENA, August 19, 2008 (AFP) - Chad's former president Hissene Habre has been sentenced to death in absentia, the justice minister confirmed on Tuesday, but not in relation to charges of crimes against humanity.

The news appeared to allay fears among rights activists in Senegal that Habre's trial there on a charge of crimes against humanity might be derailed by his conviction in Chad on a similar charge.

'He is sentenced in this affair for his financial, material and moral support to the rebels,' Justice Minister Jean Bawoyeu Alingue told reporters in Ndjamena.

'The government has proof of his implication in the actions of rebels who for the most part are his former collaborators.'

But Alingue added: 'This conviction is distinct from the case for which he is being prosecuted and which is still before Senegalese jurisdiction. These are two separate cases.'

The case being tried in Senegal concerned crimes allegedly committed during Habre's time in power between June 1982 and December 1990, the main charge of which was crimes against humanity, he added.

Judicial officials said Friday that Habre and 11 Chadian rebel leaders had been sentenced to death in absentia for having attacked the 'constitutional order and the integrity and security of the territory'.

But initial reports also suggested that Habre had also been sentenced for crimes against humanity.

Senegalese Justice Minister Madicke Niang said on Sunday that a conviction against Habre on a similar charge in Chad would render the trial in his country void, provoking concern among rights groups.

Tuesday's declaration from Ndjamena however appeared to have put that possibility to rest.

Among the 11 rebel leaders convicted and sentenced in Chad last week was their overall leader Mahamat Nouri, who was a close aide to Habre and at one time served as his defence minister.

Habre was toppled from power in 1990 and eventually fled to Senegal 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.

In 2006, the African Union gave Senegal authorization to allow Habre to be prosecuted for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Senegal's parliament last month approved a constitutional change allowing its courts to lift the statute of limitations and prosecute past crimes against humanity, clearing the way to try Habre.