[1][2] Chad's president Hissène Habré was vigorously helped by the former colonial power, France, which desired to put a limit on Libya's expansionist projects in an area with close ties to Paris.

[citation needed] A complex set of symbolic interests also underlay Libya's pursuit of territory and influence in the Sahel.

[1] Gaddafi's anticolonial and anti-imperialist rhetoric vacillated between attacks on the United States and a campaign focused on the postcolonial European presence in Africa.

[1] Gaddafi attempted alliances with a number of antigovernment rebel leaders in Chad during the 1970s, including Goukouni, Siddick, Acyl Ahmat (a Chadian of Arab descent), and Kamougué, a southerner.

[citation needed] In 1980, Libya intervened again in Chad's civil war, occupying most of the country including the capital of N'Djamena in December.

In May 1988 the Libyan leader declared he would recognize Habré as the legitimate president of Chad "as a gift to Africa"; this led on 3 October to the resumption of full diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The following year, on 31 August 1989, Chadian and Libyan representatives met in Algiers to negotiate the Framework Agreement on the Peaceful Settlement of the Territorial Dispute, by which Gaddafi agreed to discuss with Habré the Aouzou Strip and to bring the issue to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for a binding ruling if bilateral talks failed.

The formal and final transfer of the Strip from Libya to Chad took place on 30 May, when the sides signed a joint declaration stating that the Libyan withdrawal had been effected.

[6][9] In October 2007, four rebel groups in Chad signed a peace deal with their country's government, with Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi hosting the talks.

[10] On 9 August 2009, teams of ministers from Chad and Libya agreed seven deals intended to increase measures relating to security and trade as well as improve political co-operation between the nations.

[12] Since the second Libyan civil war began between different factions in Libya, mercenaries from Chad and other countries in the region had been taking part in the conflict.