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Libya
France
Libya developed particularly close relations with France after
the June 1967 War, when France relaxed its arms embargo on nonfront
-line Middle East combatants and agreed to sell weapons to the
Libyans. In 1974 Libya and France signed an agreement whereby
Libya exchanged a guaranteed oil supply for technical assistance
and financial cooperation. By 1976, however, Libya began criticizing
France as an "arms merchant" because of its willingness to sell
weapons to both sides in the Middle East conflict. Libya later
criticized France for its willingness to sell arms to Egypt. Far
more serious was Libya's dissatisfaction with French military
intervention in the Western Sahara, Chad, and Zaire. In 1978 Qadhafi
noted that although economic relations were good, political relations
were not, and he accused France of having reverted to a colonialist
policy that former French president Charles de Gaulle had earlier
abandoned.
In the 1980s, Libyan-French discord centered on the situation
in Chad. As mentioned, the two countries found themselves supporting
opposite sides in the Chadian civil war. In late 1987, there were
some French troops in Chad, but French policy did not permit its
forces to cross the sixteenth parallel. Thus, direct clashes with
Libyan soldiers seemed unlikely.
Data as of 1987
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