The quarter under review has been largely peaceful. As Chad has enjoyed the first extended period of peace in five years, several large-scale construction projects, such as hospitals, have begun. In a sign of the president's growing confidence in his position, in January-during celebrations to mark 50 years of independence from France-he granted an amnesty to all rebel prisoners of war. He also repealed the sentences to death or life in prison given (either following capture or in absentia) to several prominent rebel leaders. Four of the leaders, Taher Guinassou, Taher Wodji, Moita Ahmat Djibrine Azene and Djougourou Hemichi, were members of a rebel coalition, Union des forces pour la démocratie et le développement (UFDD), which led attacks on the capital, N'Djamena, in February 2008 and on Am Dam in May 2009 (March 2008 and June 2009, The political scene). A fifth rebel leader, Djibrine Dassert, who had destabilised the south of Chad for several years before his arrest in January, was also granted clemency.