Aouzou stripes

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Aouzou strip between Libya and Chad
In 1956 this Libyan postage stamp took over the strip
The Aouzou Strip within Chad

The Aouzou stripe (also Aozo , Aouzo or Auzou ; Arabic أوزو, DMG Auzū ) is an area in northern Chad , in the former Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti region, on the border with Libya . It is named after the city of Aouzou in the northeastern Tibesti region.

The approximately 1000 km long, 100 km wide and 114,000 km² large area with around 4,000 inhabitants, including a good 1,000 in the Aouzou oasis (both figures as of 1990), was a point of contention between the two states for decades. Economically usable uranium and tungsten deposits were suspected in the area, but they have not been mined to date (2015).

history

In 1912, 1919 and 1926 treaties regulated the southern and eastern borders of the Italian colony of Libya with Egypt , Sudan and Chad. In Rome, Italy and France signed another treaty on January 7, 1935, on the border between their colonies Libya and Chad. This treaty provides for France to cede the Aouzou strip to Italy, which would have transferred the area from what would later become Chad to what would later become Libya. However, this French-Italian agreement (Laval-Mussolini Pact) was not ratified, among other things because of Mussolini's rapprochement with Nazi Germany, and only part of the consideration promised by Italy (including small assignments of territory in other regions) was provided.

This treaty formed almost the only basis for claims in Libya on the Aouzou strip. Libyan troops occupied the Aouzou Strip in 1973. In return, Libya promised to stop supporting the FROLINAT guerrilla group . In 1976 Libya announced the formal annexation of the area. The Libyan-Chadian border war lasted from 1978 to 1987. During the civil war in Chad there was the basis for Libyan interventions and for the support of pro-Libyan forces.

On August 8, 1987, Chad briefly recaptured Aouzou. In the same month, Libya conquered the place again in a second attempt. After the spectacular Chadian conquest of an important air force base located on Libyan territory on September 5, 1987, both states concluded an armistice on September 11, 1987 under international pressure and through the mediation of the OAU . The border dispute was to be resolved diplomatically. This armistice was only slightly violated and in fact ended the Libyan-Chadian border war, there was no formal peace treaty.

Relations now improved rapidly as Libya signaled its willingness to give up the Aouzou strip if the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague ruled to that effect, where the case began in 1990. On February 3, 1994, the court confirmed with 16 votes to 1 that the territory still held by Libya belonged to Chad. The Libyan army vacated their positions between May 12 and 30, 1994 under the supervision of the United Nations . With the friendship treaty between the two states of June 1994, the border question no longer plays a role in the relations between the two states. Both states resumed diplomatic relations in 1998.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Case Concerning The Territorial Dispute (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya / Chad) - Judgment. (pdf, 3.8 MB) International Court of Justice, February 3, 1994, archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; accessed on February 3, 2019 (English, French).
  2. ^ Agreement signed on April 4, 1994 between the Governments of Chad and the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya concerning the practical modalities for the implementation of the Judgment delivered by the International Court of Justice on February 3, 1994. (pdf, 56 kB) In: Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council. United Nations, pp. 508-510 , accessed February 3, 2019 .

Coordinates: 21 ° 48 ′ 56 "  N , 17 ° 25 ′ 46"  E