Relations With Other African and Arab States
Although relations with Libya improved with the presidency of Idriss Déby, strains persist. Chad has been an active champion of regional cooperation through the Central African Economic and Customs Union, the Lake Chad and Niger River Basin Commissions, and the Interstate Commission for the Fight Against the Drought in the Sahel.
Delimitation of international boundaries in the vicinity of Lake Chad, the lack of which led to border incidents in the past, has been completed and awaits ratification by Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria.
Despite centuries-old cultural ties to the Arab World, the Chadian Government maintained few significant ties Arab states in North Africa or Southwest Asia in the 1980s. However, Chad has not recognised the State of Israel since former Chadian President François (Ngarta) Tombalbaye broke off relations in September 1972 as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians, and other Arabs under Israeli occupation. President Habré hoped to pursue closer relations with Arab states as a potential opportunity to break out of his Chad's post-imperial dependence on France, and to assert Chad's unwillingness to serve as an arena for superpower rivalries. In addition, as a northern Christian, Habré represented a constituency that favored co-operation and solidarity with Arabs, both African, and Asian. For these reasons, he was expected to seize opportunities during the 1990s to pursue closer ties with the Arab World. In 1988, Chad recognized the State of Palestine, which maintains a mission in N'Djamena.
During the 1980s, Arab opinion on the Chadian-Libyan conflict over the Aozou Strip was divided. Several Arab states supported Libyan territorial claims to the Strip, among the most outspoken of which was Algeria, which provided training for anti-Habré forces, although most recruits for its training programs were from Nigeria or Cameroon, recruited and flown to Algeria by Libya. Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party also sent troops to support Qadhafi's efforts against Chad in 1987. In contrast, numerous other Arab states opposed the Libyan actions, and expressed their desire to see the dispute over the Aozou Strip settled peacefully. By the end of 1987, Algiers and N'Djamena were negotiating to improve relations.
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