Peacekeeping force for Chad-Libya dispute

Press, 25 September 1987, Page 6

Peacekeeping force for Chad-Libya dispute

NZPA-Reuter Lusaka Nigeria has proposed an African peacekeeping force to help end the Chad-Libya conflict at talks boosted by the presence of a high-level Libyan delegation. The Lusaka talks, sponsored by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), have raised hopes of progress in ending the protracted Sahara strife between the two neighbouring states. Delegates at an OAU committee meeting on the Chad-Libya dispute cautioned against too much optimism, saying deeprooted differences remained. The two-day meeting opened yesterday. However, they said the fact the OAU chairman, President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia, had managed to persuade representatives of the two

nations to sit at the same table was itself an achievement. President Hissene Habre represented Chad, and Libya’s Foreign Minister, Jaddallah Azzouz alTalhi, led his country’s delegation. The Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, chose to stay away. OAU sources noted that this was the first time that Libya had attended a session of the six-nation OAU committee since it first met in 1977.

The talks yesterday were marked by a series of proposals by a committee member, Nigeria, aimed at maintaining a fragile 13-day-old ceasefire between Chad and Libya and moving towards a permanent solution to their border war. Zambian officials said an official communique

on the talks would be released tomorrow translated into English, French and Arabic.

The Nigerian proposals, sent in a message to the meeting by the Nigerian President, Ibrahim Babangida, foresee the setting up of an OAU observer force to maintain the ceasefire between Chad and Libya in the disputed border strip of Aouzou.

In addition, Nigeria proposed that the dispute be taken to the International Court of Justice in The Hague for arbitration.

There was no immediate reaction to the proposals from either Chad or Libya or the committee members, who comprise Gabon, the chairman, Algeria, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, and Cameroun.