The Libya/Chad dispute over the Aouzou Strip
The Aouzou Strip is a strip of Chadian territory
abutting the Libyan border, the ownership of which has been
contested by the two countries ever since their
independence. It runs for some 600 miles in length and 90
miles at its broadest point and 50 miles at its narrowest.
Few people, mostly members of the nomadic Tebu clan,
actually inhabit the strip, which was the scene of fierce
fighting at various junctures in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s
until the ownership issue was referred to the International
Court of Justice by the UN Security Council.
The origins of the dispute lie in the uncertainties
over the territories inherited by the two countries by the
colonial powers in the region - in this case, Italy and
France. Chad largely based its claim to ownership on the
1955 Treaty of Friendship and Good Neighbourliness signed
between newly independent Libya and the French possessions,
which it argued, gave it a strong claim to the territory
based on various exchanges of correspondence between the
colonial powers. It also based its argument on Libya's
failure to insist on the inclusion of the strip into its
territory in a 1966 treaty between the two countries.
Libya also believed it had a strong case for ownership.
It argued that the 1955 agreement was a product of
coercion, and that it had in fact been superseded by a 1972
agreement between Colonel Qadhafi and President Tombalbaye
of Chad in which Tombalbaye unambiguously stated, "The
Aouzou Strip has been and always will be, without any
doubt, an integral part of Libyan territory." In addition
it referred to a 1935 French-Italian Treaty which would
appear to have granted Italy (as colonial power in Libya)
rights over the Strip, but while this treaty was ratified,
the ratification documents were never exchanged, and the
territory was never, in fact, occupied by the
Italians.
In its judgment, the ICJ voted overwhelmingly in favour
of Chad's claims, and stated that the boundary was, in
effect, determined exclusively and conclusively by the 1955
Treaty. It determined the course of the boundary as
being:
From the point of intersection of the 24th meridian
east with the parallel 19 degrees 30' of latitude north, a
straight line to the point of intersection of the Tropic of
Cancer with the 16th meridian east; and from that point a
straight line to the point of intersection of the 15th
meridian east and the parallel 23 degree of latitude
north.
Relations between Chad and Libya remain complicated by
Libyan attempts at involvement in Chad's internal affairs -
arguably a reflection of their long-standing shared history
of trade, migration and other trans-boundary interaction.
However, history subsequent to the 1994 judgment appears to
have demonstrated Libyan acceptance of the boundary and
while Libya remains involved in Chadian affairs the issue
has effectively been removed from the table as a source of
potential further conflict.