CIAO DATE: 04/2010
March 2010
Since Muammar Gaddafi came to power in 1969, Libya has been Chad’s most important neighbour. During the Habré presidency, a hostile relationship was marked by military interventions, but since President Déby took office, Libya has dropped all territorial claims in the country and evolved into a regional powerbroker playing an active role in the peace negotiations between the N’Djamena regime and various insurgencies. Libya has the financial means and regional authority to bring the protagonists to the table but has done little to assist with the implementation of the agreements it chaperones. Its diplomacy has achieved brief successes by facilitating N’Djamena’s cooptation of rebels but has failed at longer-term progress toward durable stabilisation of Chad. The discrepancy between its strong pressure to get signatures on agreements and its lack of interest in implementation suggests Gaddafi’s mediations are based less on a desire to stabilise Chad than to assert his regional influence.
Resource link: Libye/Tchad : au-delà d'une politique d'influence [PDF] - 965K