This dyad belongs to the conflict Chad - Libya
Summary of conflict Chad - Libya
In 1973 Libya invaded the Aouzou Strip, situated in the border region with Chad. Libya had been claiming since independence. The situation stabilized until 1987, when Chad retook the disputed area, heavy clashes ensued resulting in thousands of deaths. In September 1987 Chad and Libya declared a ceasefire, ending the violence but leaving the Aouzou Strip under Libyan control. In 1989 the two countries agreed to take their dispute to the International Court of Justice. A ruling from the Court, favoring Chad, came in February 1994, and on 30 May the Aouzou strip was formally and finally transferred back to Chad.
The claims over Aouzou
The first clashes over the Aouzou Strip, an area situated between today’s Chad and Libya in the middle of the Sahara Desert, were reported in 1954 when the Libyan king Idriss tried to take control over the area. The attempt was repelled by the French colonial forces. The French colony Chad was granted independence in 1960. Libyan attempts to influence its neighbour intensified after Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi’s coup in September 1969 in which he assumed power over Libya.
Libya continued to claim the Aouzou Strip under a treaty signed, but never ratified, in 1935 between France and Italy. According to Libya the border between Libya and France was never properly demarcated in a 1955 treaty. In addition, the 1955 treaty was signed, but never ratified by the affected parties. Furthermore Libya considered the Aouzou Strip part of the Ottoman Empire which had been under colonial rule by Italy. Libya also claimed the Aouzou because of cultural, ethnic, and historical reasons. The area is populated with Berbers and Arabs, who also inhabit Libya.
From Chad’s point of view the ownership of the Aouzou Strip stems from a treaty between France and Great Britain in 1899. This treaty gave the Aouzou Strip to France.
As a result of the above claims, Libya occupied the Aouzou Strip in the first half of 1973 with troops. This occupation went unanswered by Chad, as the government was dealing with an intrastate conflict. It was not until 1977 that Chad publicly complained and stated that Aouzou was an integral part of Chad.
Libya’s involvement in Chad’s intrastate conflict
Whilst being in a territorial dispute over the Aouzou Strip with Chad, Libya has been directly involved in Chad’s internal conflict. From 1966-69 the Libyan King supported the Chadian rebel group Frolinat (Front de libération national du Chad, National Liberation Front of Chad) and in the 1970s Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi continued the involvement in Chad’s internal affairs. Libya has been backing coups and coup-attempts and supported rebel groups in the country. Since 1984 Libya or the Libyan-supported rebel group GUNT (Gouvernement d’union nationale de transition, Transitional Government of National Unity) have virtually controlled half of Chad’s territory. In June 1986 Chad complained to the UN Security Council against Libya’s occupation. After a split in GUNT, the new rebel group FAP (Forces armées populaires, People’s Armed Forces) declared their support for Chad’s government in October 1986, and in December the group was attacked with napalm and poison gas by Libya. In late December, Chadian government troops together with FAP launched an offensive northward and managed to press back Libyan forces. By January 1987 they recaptured a number of important northern towns and bases. Thousands of Libyan troops are believed to have died in the following clashes in January – March 1987. These clashes were the build up leading to the war over the Aouzou Strip.
The clashes over the Aouzou Strip
On 8 August 1987 Chad attacked the town of Aouzou and managed to drive out Libyan forces. Two days later the Libyan air force retaliated and carried out intensive bombing, rocketing and napalm attacks on Aouzou town and neighbouring villages. Libya continued its heavy bombing campaign, and on 14 August Libya launched a ground attack on the town of Aouzou, but was driven back by Chad. The countries clashed again on 20 August in a new Libyan drive to recapture the town of Aouzou. Libya retook Aouzou on 29 August.
Chad retaliated in early September 1987 by crossing the disputed area into Libya with 2000 troops, taking the Libyan army base Maaten es Sarra, located some 60 miles inside the country. The Libyans responded by sending two Libyan planes on a bombing raid targeting the Chadian capital, NDjamena. The Libyan mission failed, as French troops, normally stationed in Chad, shot down one of the planes. The other returned to Libya. Libya then again bombed Chad, this time in the town of Abeche where the bombs missed their target.
On 11 September both countries agreed to an Organization of African Unity (OAU) mediated ceasefire, ending the heavy battles.
Peaceful solution through ICJ ruling
In late September 1987 the parties met in OAU sponsored talks held in Lusaka. In the talks Chad and Libya reaffirmed their rival claims to the Aouzou Strip but agreed to take part in an independent study of the dispute. They also reaffirmed the ceasefire declared on 11 September 1987. In November Chad and Libya filed legal documents with an OAU committee to back their rival claims over the Aouzou Strip.
In 1988 Chad and Libya negotiations continued under OAU mediation without coming closer to a solution on the dispute. Efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict continued in early 1989, and on 31 August 1989 a peace agreement was finally concluded in which Chad and Libya accepted the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as the final arbiter on sovereignity over the Aouzou Strip if they had failed to negotiate a solution within a year. Libya also promised to withdraw its troops from the Aouzou Strip within a year unless a political settlement allowed them to remain. The countries agreed to exchange prisoners-of-war and end media attacks on each other. The agreement also provided for the establishment of a joint commission to oversee the implementation of the agreement. The year following the Algeris agreement saw many failed peace talks which broke down over the issue of the release of prisoners-of-war. The dispute was thus submitted to ICJ.
In a December 1990 coup Idriss Deby ousted Chad’s President Hissene Habre, with Libyan backing. This improved the relationship between the two countries and in September 1991 the new President concluded a security and cooperation agreement with Libya. The agreement established procedures for exchange of the remaining prisoners-of-war. It also covered repatriation of Chadian nationals living in Libya.
On 3 February 1994 the International Court of Justice ruled by 16 votes to one that the border between the two countries had been fixed by a 1955 treaty between Libya and France, the former colonial power in Chad. Therefore, the current boundary between Chad and Libya, with the Aouzou Strip belonging to Chad, stood. After a spring with negotiations on the withdrawal of Libyan troops from the Aouzou Strip, Chad and Libya concluded a final peace agreement on 4 April 1994. On 30 May Libya formally handed over the control of the Aouzou Strip to Chad. This marked the end of the armed conflict between Chad and Libya.
