Libya’s adventures in Chad

Press, 27 June 1983, Page 18

Libya’s adventures in Chad

The report that a northern town in Chad has been taken by troops, including Libyan troops, led by a former President of Chad, Mr Goukouni Oueddei, is a further development in a civil war that has been continuing since the 19605. Officially, Libyan troops were withdrawn from Chad in November, 1981, where they had been at the invitation of Chad since 1980. Libyan involvement in Chad has been occasionally reported since then. Libya supports Mr Oueddei, who was replaced as President by Mr Hissene Habre a year ago. Mr Oueddei has set up a rival Government in an area that he controls. One of the planned meetings of the Organisation of African Unity could not be held last year because the organisation could not decide on who should represent Chad. The meeting, eventually held in Addis Ababa from June 8 to June 11, allowed Mr Habre to represent Chad. The assault on the northern town is an indication that Mr Habre is far from being in complete control of the country. In part, his adventures in Chad denied Colonel Gadaffi, of Libya, the chairmanship of the O.A.U. Libya offered itself as host in two attempts to hold summit meetings of the O.A.U. last year; moderate African States were reluctant to see Colonel Gadaffi as chairman and the arrangements fell down. The meeting earlier this month elected Colonel Mengistu, of Ethiopia, to be chairman and next year’s summit meeting will be held in Guinea. President Sekou Toure of Guinea would thus be the most likely chairman for the succeeding year. He is a bitter enemy of Colonel Gadaffi. Although Colonel Gadaffi turned up in Addis Ababa, he retired early, having been clearly offended by the decisions of the O.A.U. The involvement of the O.A.U. in the affairs of Chad has not been particularly successful. Under O.A.U. pressure, Libya withdrew its troops, retaining as it did so an area on the border rich in uranium. The O.A.U. sent a force to help keep order in Chad, but it was too small to be effective. Libya has not given up the hope

that Mr Oueddei will force Mr Habre out of office, just as Mr Habre removed Mr Oueddei. Some other African countries hope for a reconciliation between Mr Habre and Mr Oueddei. The hopes for this seem slender. The civil war that has persisted since Chad became independent in 1960, after being a province of French Equatorial Africa, has made the country one of the 10 poorest in the world. Its population was traditionally divided between the Muslim peoples of the north and the animist and Christian peoples of the south. The division prevails. By the middle of last year about one quarter, the country’s four million people were reported to be at starvation point. International aid has been sent to Chad. Besides the suffering in Chad itself, a large number of refugees crossed the borders into Sudan and Cameroon. The Government of Cameroon welcomed them, provided that they refrained from political activity. While the Libyans refrain from large-scale intervention it seems likely that President Habre will not seek outside support for his Government. Libya may not refrain from such intervention. Undoubtedly, open military intervention would make Colonel Gadaffi even more unpopular in the Organisation of African Unity. He has, however, probably got enough to keep him occupied in Middle East politics at the moment without engaging in wars with his neighbours. Although his own base of power has been the Army, he has recently called for the abolition of the Army and the establishment of militias and revolutionary committees in Libya. Colonel Gadaffi is unpredictable. Yet if he wants to assert Libya’s military power on its southern neighbour, he may have to wait until either the Army recovers from its shock at hearing that it might be dissolved, or until he manages to set up his militias. Libya’s drop in oil revenues will limit the scale of any adventures he has in mind. Chad may thus be permitted to tear itself apart without more than minor help from other countries.