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Libya-Invasion of Chad

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Figure 13. Libyan Intervention in Chad, 1980-Mid-1987

Libya's involvement in Chad dates to the early 1970s, when Qadhafi began supporting the antigovernment rebels of the Front for the National Liberation of Chad (FROLINAT). Libyan intervention has resulted in de facto control over the northern part of the country and three phases of open hostilities--in 1980-81, 1983, and late 1986--when incursions were launched to the south of Chad. During the first two phases, the Libyan units acquitted themselves more professionally than in their previous encounters with Egypt and in Uganda. In mounting the 1980 incursion, they successfully traversed hundreds of miles of desert tracks with armored vehicles and carried out air operations under harsh climatic conditions. They also gained valuable experience in logistics and maintenance of modern military forces over lengthy supply lines.

Libya's 1980 intervention in Chad was on behalf of President Goukouni Oueddei against the French-backed forces of Hissein Habré, who at the time also enjoyed Libyan support. Qadhafi's actions were portrayed as support for the Chadian northern groups of Islamic, and to some extent Arab, culture, but his objective was the creation of a Libyan sphere of influence in Chad. Even before 1980, Libyan forces had moved freely in northern areas of the country, operating from the 100-kilometer-wide Aouzou strip (see Glossary), which Libya had occupied by 1973 (see fig. 13).

In June 1980, an offensive by Habre's forces resulted in the capture of Faya Largeau, the key center of northern Chad. Beginning in October of that year, Libyan troops airlifted to the Aouzou strip operated in conjunction with Goukouni's forces to drive Habré back. Faya Largeau was then used as an assembly point for tanks, artillery, and armored vehicles that moved south against the capital of N'Djamena.

An attack spearheaded by Soviet T-54 and T-55 tanks, and reportedly coordinated by advisers from the Soviet Union and The German Democratic Republic, brought the fall of the capital in midDecember . The Libyan force, numbering between 7,000 and 9,000 men of regular units and the paramilitary Islamic Pan-African Legion, 60 tanks, and other armored vehicles, had been ferried across 1,100 kilometers of desert from Libya's southern border, partly by airlift and tank transporters and partly under their own power. The border itself was 1,000 to 1,100 kilometers from Libya's main bases on the Mediterranean coast.

Under increasingly insistent pressure from other African countries and from political factions in Chad, the Libyans withdrew in November 1981. Upon their return to Libya, Qadhafi announced that his troops had killed over 3,000 of the "enemy" while losing 300 themselves; other estimates of Libyan casualties were considerable higher.

Without military support from Libya, Goukouni's forces were unable to stop the advance of Habré's Armed Forces of the North (FAN), which overran the capital in June 1982. The second Libyan intervention in favor of Goukouni occurred between June and August 1983, with the distinction that Goukouni was now the head of a rebel faction against the legally constituted government of Habré. To make the 1983 phase of the Chadian war appear purely indigenous, the Libyans recruited, trained, and armed Chadian dissidents under Goukouni's nominal command. Supplemented by heavy artillery, the insurgents began well but were soundly defeated in July by Chadian government forces, bolstered by French and United States military supplies and a token force of Zairian troops. Qadhafi called for a Libyan intervention in force. A sustained air bombardment was launched against Faya Largeau after its recapture by Habré on July 30, using Su-22 fighters and Mirage F-1s from the Aouzou air base, along with Tu-22 bombers from Sabha. Within ten days, a large ground force had been assembled east and west of Faya Largeau by first ferrying men, armor, and artillery by air to Sabha, Al Kufrah, and the Aouzou airfield, and then by shorter range transport planes to the area of conflict. The fresh Libyan forces attacked the Faya Largeau oasis on August 10, driving the Chadian government units out.

The subsequent intervention of 3,000 French troops ended the Libyan successes and led to a de facto division of the country, with Libya maintaining control of all the territory north of the sixteenth parallel. Under an agreement for mutual withdrawal from Chad, French troops withdrew by early November 1984, but the Libyans secretly dispersed and hid their units.

In December 1986, an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 Chadian government troops were moved into the Tibesti Massif region of northwestern Chad to support Goukouni's forces, most of whom who had rebelled against the Libyans after Goukouni grew disillusioned with his Libyan backers in late 1986. Combined Goukouni and Habré forces then reportedly routed a 1,000-man Libyan garrison at Fada, claiming to have captured or destroyed a large number of tanks.

In March 1987, the main Libyan air base of Wadi Doum was captured by Chadian forces. Although strongly defended by mine fields, 5,000 troops, tanks, armored vehicles, and aircraft, the Libyans Base was overcome by a smaller Chadian attacking force equipped with trucks mounted with machine guns and antitank weapons. Two days later, the Libyans evacuated their main base of Faya Largeau, 150 kilometers farther south, which was in danger of being encircled. Observers estimated that in the Chadian victories in the first 3 months of 1987 more than 3,000 Libyan soldiers had been killed or captured or had deserted. Large numbers of tanks, armored personnel carriers, artillery, fixed-wing aircraft, and helicopters were captured or destroyed. In some cases, Libya sent its own aircraft to bomb abandoned Libyan equipment to deny its use to the Chadians. It was reported that in many cases Libyan soldiers had been killed while fleeing to avoid battle. At Wadi Doum, panicked Libyans had suffered high casualties running through their own mine fields.

These military actions left Habre in virtual control of Chad and in a position to threaten the expulsion of Libya from the Aouzou Strip. The full effect of these stunning defeats had yet to be assessed as of May 1987. It was clear, however, that they had affected the perception of Libya as a significant regional military power. They also cast renewed doubt on the competence and determination of Libyan fighting men, especially in engagements beyond the country's borders to which they evidently felt no personal commitment.

Data as of 1987

Background		The Italians supplanted the Ottoman Turks in the area around Tripoli in 1911 and did not relinquish their hold until 1943 when defeated in World War II. Libya then passed to UN administration and achieved independence in 1951. Following a 1969 military coup, Col. Muammar Abu Minyar al-QADHAFI began to espouse his own political system, the Third Universal Theory. The system is a combination of socialism and Islam derived in part from tribal practices and is supposed to be implemented by the Libyan people themselves in a unique form of "direct democracy." QADHAFI has always seen himself as a revolutionary and visionary leader. He used oil funds during the 1970s and 1980s to promote his ideology outside Libya, supporting subversives and terrorists abroad to hasten the end of Marxism and capitalism. In addition, beginning in 1973, he engaged in military operations in northern Chad's Aozou Strip - to gain access to minerals and to use as a base of influence in Chadian politics - but was forced to retreat in 1987. UN sanctions in 1992 isolated QADHAFI politically following the downing of Pan AM Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. During the 1990s, QADHAFI began to rebuild his relationships with Europe. UN sanctions were suspended in April 1999 and finally lifted in September 2003 after Libya accepted responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing. In December 2003, Libya announced that it had agreed to reveal and end its programs to develop weapons of mass destruction and to renounce terrorism. QADHAFI has made significant strides in normalizing relations with Western nations since then. He has received various Western European leaders as well as many working-level and commercial delegations, and made his first trip to Western Europe in 15 years when he traveled to Brussels in April 2004. The US rescinded Libya's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism in June 2006. In January 2008, Libya assumed a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2008-09 term. In August 2008, the US and Libya signed a bilateral comprehensive claims settlement agreement to compensate claimants in both countries who allege injury or death at the hands of the other country, including the Lockerbie bombing, the LaBelle disco bombing, and the UTA 772 bombing. In October 2008, the US Government received $1.5 billion pursuant to the agreement to distribute to US national claimants, and as a result effectively normalized its bilateral relationship with Libya. The two countries then exchanged ambassadors for the first time since 1973 in January 2009. QADHAFI in February 2009 took over as chairman of the African Union for the 2009-10 term; in September 2009, a Libyan took over the year-long presidency of UN General Assembly.
Location		Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Tunisia
Area(sq km)		total: 1,759,540 sq km land: 1,759,540 sq km water: 0 sq km
Geographic coordinates		25 00 N, 17 00 E
Land boundaries(km)		total: 4,348 km border countries: Algeria 982 km, Chad 1,055 km, Egypt 1,115 km, Niger 354 km, Sudan 383 km, Tunisia 459 km
Coastline(km)		1,770 km
Climate		Mediterranean along coast; dry, extreme desert interior
Elevation extremes(m)		lowest point: Sabkhat Ghuzayyil -47 m highest point: Bikku Bitti 2,267 m
Natural resources		petroleum, natural gas, gypsum
Land use(%)		arable land: 1.03% permanent crops: 0.19% other: 98.78% (2005)
Irrigated land(sq km)		4,700 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources(cu km)		0.6 cu km (1997)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)		total: 4.27 cu km/yr (14%/3%/83%) per capita: 730 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards		hot, dry, dust-laden ghibli is a southern wind lasting one to four days in spring and fall; dust storms, sandstorms
Environment - current issues		desertification; limited natural fresh water resources; the Great Manmade River Project, the largest water development scheme in the world, is being built to bring water from large aquifers under the Sahara to coastal cities
Environment - international agreements		party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea
Geography - note		more than 90% of the country is desert or semidesert
Population		6,310,434 note: includes 166,510 non-nationals (July 2009 est.)
Age structure(%)		0-14 years: 33% (male 1,064,866/female 1,019,790) 15-64 years: 62.7% (male 2,033,478/female 1,920,755) 65 years and over: 4.3% (male 133,092/female 138,453) (2009 est.)
Median age(years)		total: 23.9 years male: 24 years female: 23.8 years (2009 est.)
Population growth rate(%)		2.17% (2009 est.)
Birth rate(births/1,000 population)		25.15 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Death rate(deaths/1,000 population)		3.45 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)
Net migration rate(migrant(s)/1,000 population)		NA (2009 est.)
Urbanization(%)		urban population: 78% of total population (2008) rate of urbanization: 2.2% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
Sex ratio(male(s)/female)		at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.96 male(s)/female total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
Infant mortality rate(deaths/1,000 live births)		total: 21.05 deaths/1,000 live births male: 23.21 deaths/1,000 live births female: 18.78 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
Life expectancy at birth(years)		total population: 77.26 years male: 74.98 years female: 79.65 years (2009 est.)
Total fertility rate(children born/woman)		3.08 children born/woman (2009 est.)
Nationality		noun: Libyan(s) adjective: Libyan
Ethnic groups(%)		Berber and Arab 97%, other 3% (includes Greeks, Maltese, Italians, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Turks, Indians, and Tunisians)
Religions(%)		Sunni Muslim 97%, other 3%
Languages(%)		Arabic, Italian, English, all are widely understood in the major cities
Country name		conventional long form: Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya conventional short form: Libya local long form: Al Jamahiriyah al Arabiyah al Libiyah ash Shabiyah al Ishtirakiyah al Uthma local short form: none
Government type		Jamahiriya (a state of the masses) in theory, governed by the populace through local councils; in practice, an authoritarian state
Capital		name: Tripoli (Tarabulus) geographic coordinates: 32 53 N, 13 10 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions		25 municipalities (baladiyat, singular - baladiyah); Ajdabiya, Al 'Aziziyah, Al Fatih, Al Jabal al Akhdar, Al Jufrah, Al Khums, Al Kufrah, An Nuqat al Khams, Ash Shati', Awbari, Az Zawiyah, Banghazi, Darnah, Ghadamis, Gharyan, Misratah, Murzuq, Sabha, Sawfajjin, Surt, Tarabulus, Tarhunah, Tubruq, Yafran, Zlitan; note - the 25 municipalities may have been replaced by 13 regions
Constitution		none; note - following the September 1969 military overthrow of the Libyan government, the Revolutionary Command Council replaced the existing constitution with the Constitutional Proclamation in December 1969; in March 1977, Libya adopted the Declaration of the Establishment of the People's Authority
Legal system		based on Italian and French civil law systems and Islamic law; separate religious courts; no constitutional provision for judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage		18 years of age; universal and technically compulsory
Executive branch		chief of state: Revolutionary Leader Col. Muammar Abu Minyar al-QADHAFI (since 1 September 1969); note - holds no official title, but is de facto chief of state head of government: Secretary of the General People's Committee (Prime Minister) al-Baghdadi Ali al-MAHMUDI (since 5 March 2006) cabinet: General People's Committee established by the General People's Congress elections: national elections are indirect through a hierarchy of people's committees; head of government elected by the General People's Congress; election last held March 2009 (next to be held NA) election results: NA
Legislative branch		unicameral General People's Congress (760 seats; members elected indirectly through a hierarchy of people's committees)
Judicial branch		Supreme Court
Political pressure groups and leaders		other: Arab nationalist movements; anti-QADHAFI Libyan exile Movement; Islamic elements
International organization participation		ABEDA, AfDB, AFESD, AMF, AMU, AU, CAEU, COMESA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, LAS, MIGA, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, OPCW, OPEC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer)
Flag description		plain green; green is the traditional color of Islam (the state religion)
Economy - overview		The Libyan economy depends primarily upon revenues from the oil sector, which contribute about 95% of export earnings, about one-quarter of GDP, and 60% of public sector wages. The expected weakness in world hydrocarbon prices throughout 2009 will reduce Libyan government tax income and constrain Libyan economic growth in 2009. Substantial revenues from the energy sector coupled with a small population give Libya one of the highest per capita GDPs in Africa, but little of this income flows down to the lower orders of society. Libyan officials in the past five years have made progress on economic reforms as part of a broader campaign to reintegrate the country into the international fold. This effort picked up steam after UN sanctions were lifted in September 2003 and as Libya announced in December 2003 that it would abandon programs to build weapons of mass destruction. UN Sanctions against Libya were lifted in September 2003. The process of lifting US unilateral sanctions began in the spring of 2004; all sanctions were removed by June 2006, helping Libya attract greater foreign direct investment, especially in the energy sector. Libyan oil and gas licensing rounds continue to draw high international interest; the National Oil Company set a goal of nearly doubling oil production to 3 million bbl/day by 2012. Libya faces a long road ahead in liberalizing the socialist-oriented economy, but initial steps - including applying for WTO membership, reducing some subsidies, and announcing plans for privatization - are laying the groundwork for a transition to a more market-based economy. The non-oil manufacturing and construction sectors, which account for more than 20% of GDP, have expanded from processing mostly agricultural products to include the production of petrochemicals, iron, steel, and aluminum. Climatic conditions and poor soils severely limit agricultural output, and Libya imports about 75% of its food. Libya's primary agricultural water source remains the Great Manmade River Project, but significant resources are being invested in desalinization research to meet growing water demands.
GDP (purchasing power parity)		$87.72 billion (2008 est.) $82.83 billion (2007 est.) $78.44 billion (2006 est.) note: data are in 2008 US dollars
GDP (official exchange rate)		$89.92 billion (2008 est.)
GDP - real growth rate(%)		5.9% (2008 est.) 5.6% (2007 est.) 5.9% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP)		$14,200 (2008 est.) $13,700 (2007 est.) $13,300 (2006 est.) note: data are in 2008 US dollars
GDP - composition by sector(%)		agriculture: 1.7% industry: 70.9% services: 27.4% (2008 est.)
Labor force		1.64 million (2008 est.)
Labor force - by occupation(%)		agriculture: 17% industry: 23% services: 59% (2004 est.)
Unemployment rate(%)		30% (2004 est.)
Population below poverty line(%)		7.4% (2005 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share(%)		lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%
Investment (gross fixed)(% of GDP)		9.3% of GDP (2008 est.)
Budget		revenues: $58.04 billion expenditures: $35.22 billion (2008 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)(%)		10.4% (2008 est.) 6.3% (2007 est.)
Stock of money		$26.66 billion (31 December 2008) $18.04 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of quasi money		$4.264 billion (31 December 2008) $3.192 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of domestic credit		$NA (31 December 2008) $NA (31 December 2007)
Market value of publicly traded shares		$NA
Economic aid - recipient		ODA, $24.44 million (2005 est.)
Public debt(% of GDP)		4% of GDP (2008 est.) 8.8% of GDP (2004 est.)
Agriculture - products		wheat, barley, olives, dates, citrus, vegetables, peanuts, soybeans; cattle
Industries		petroleum, iron and steel, food processing, textiles, handicrafts, cement
Industrial production growth rate(%)		6.2% (2008 est.)
Current account balance		$37.39 billion (2008 est.) $28.45 billion (2007 est.)
Exports		$64.5 billion (2008 est.) $46.97 billion (2007 est.)
Exports - commodities(%)		crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas, chemicals
Exports - partners(%)		Italy 38%, Germany 12%, France 7.4%, Spain 6.9%, US 6.4%, Switzerland 4.6% (2008)
Imports		$26.55 billion (2008 est.) $17.7 billion (2007 est.)
Imports - commodities(%)		machinery, semi-finished goods, food, transport equipment, consumer products
Imports - partners(%)		Italy 22.2%, China 9.3%, Germany 8.6%, Turkey 6.1%, Tunisia 5.8%, South Korea 4.7%, US 4.1%, France 4.1% (2008)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold		$92.51 billion (31 December 2008 est.) $79.6 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Debt - external		$6.223 billion (31 December 2008 est.) $4.837 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home		$11.23 billion (31 December 2008 est.) $8.775 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad		$5.15 billion (31 December 2008 est.) $3.7 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Exchange rates		Libyan dinars (LYD) per US dollar - 1.2112 (2008 est.), 1.2604 (2007), 1.3108 (2006), 1.3084 (2005), 1.305 (2004)
Currency (code)		Libyan dinar (LYD)
Telephones - main lines in use		1.033 million (2008)
Telephones - mobile cellular		4.828 million (2008)
Telephone system		general assessment: telecommunications system is state-owned and service is poor, but investment is being made to upgrade; state retains monopoly in fixed-line services; mobile cellular telephone system became operational in 1996; multiple providers for a mobile telephone system that is growing rapidly; combined fixed line and mobile telephone density is approaching 100 telephones per 100 persons domestic: microwave radio relay, coaxial cable, cellular, tropospheric scatter, and a domestic satellite system with 14 earth stations international: country code - 218; satellite earth stations - 4 Intelsat, NA Arabsat, and NA Intersputnik; submarine cables to France and Italy; microwave radio relay to Tunisia and Egypt; tropospheric scatter to Greece; participant in Medarabtel (2008)
Internet country code		.ly
Internet users		323,000 (2008)
Airports		137 (2009)
Pipelines(km)		condensate 776 km; gas 2,860 km; oil 6,987 km (2008)
Roadways(km)		total: 100,024 km paved: 57,214 km unpaved: 42,810 km (2003)
Ports and terminals		As Sidrah, Az Zuwaytinah, Marsa al Burayqah, Ra's Lanuf, Tripoli, Zawiyah
Military branches		Armed Peoples on Duty (APOD, Army), Libyan Arab Navy, Libyan Arab Air Force (Al-Quwwat al-Jawwiya al-Jamahiriya al-Arabia al-Libyya, LAAF), Libyan Coast Guard (2008)
Military service age and obligation(years of age)		17 years of age (2004)
Manpower available for military service		males age 16-49: 1,682,183 females age 16-49: 1,611,001 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service		males age 16-49: 1,466,578 females age 16-49: 1,409,684 (2009 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually		male: 60,710 female: 58,219 (2009 est.)
Military expenditures(% of GDP)		3.9% of GDP (2005 est.)
Disputes - international		Libya has claimed more than 32,000 sq km in southeastern Algeria and about 25,000 sq km in the Tommo region of Niger in a currently dormant dispute; various Chadian rebels from the Aozou region reside in southern Libya
Refugees and internally displaced persons		refugees (country of origin): 8,000 (Palestinian Territories) (2007)
Trafficking in persons		current situation: Libya is a transit and destination country for men and women from sub-Saharan Africa and Asia trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Libya is on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to address trafficking in persons in 2007 when compared to 2006, particularly in the area of investigating and prosecuting trafficking offenses; Libya did not publicly release any data on investigations or punishment of any trafficking offenses (2008)
Electricity - production(kWh)		23.98 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - production by source(%)		fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)
Electricity - consumption(kWh)		22.17 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - exports(kWh)		104 million kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - imports(kWh)		77 million kWh (2007 est.)
Oil - production(bbl/day)		1.875 million bbl/day (2008 est.)
Oil - consumption(bbl/day)		273,000 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Oil - exports(bbl/day)		1.542 million bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - imports(bbl/day)		575.3 bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - proved reserves(bbl)		43.66 billion bbl (1 January 2009 est.)
Natural gas - production(cu m)		15.9 billion cu m (2008 est.)
Natural gas - consumption(cu m)		5.5 billion cu m (2008 est.)
Natural gas - exports(cu m)		10.4 billion cu m (2008)
Natural gas - proved reserves(cu m)		1.54 trillion cu m (1 January 2009 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate(%)		0.3% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS		10,000 (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths		NA
Literacy(%)		definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 82.6% male: 92.4% female: 72% (2003 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)(years)		total: 17 years male: 16 years female: 17 years (2003)
Education expenditures(% of GDP)		2.7% of GDP (1999)