Qadhafi's comeback: Libya and sub‐Saharan Africa in the 1990s

In the 1970s and 1980s, Colonel Qadhafi's Libya combined its important financial resources with an intense anti‐imperialism in supporting insurgencies, coup d‐états and radical governments all over sub‐Saharan Africa. The military intervention in Chad was undoubtedly Libya's most significant external involvement. However, in 1994 Qadhafi accepted a decision handed down by the International Court of Justice in favour of Chadian sovereignty over the disputed Aouzou strip. The withdrawal of Libyan forces from the disputed territory seemed to mark a significant change in Qadhafi's foreign policy towards sub‐Saharan Africa: some observers concluded that Libya wanted to disengage from black Africa. Nevertheless, in 1998 Qadhafi declared that Africans and not Arabs are Libya's real supporters. The Libyan state‐owned radio ‘Voice of the Arab World’ was renamed ‘Voice of Africa’, a number of African leaders breached the UN embargo and a regional organization entitled ‘Community of Mediterranean and Sahelian Countries’ that included Libya and its sub‐Saharan African neighbours was created. However, Libya's revived interest in sub‐Saharan Africa is more a tactical move than a structural shift in its foreign policy. The Libyan‐black African rapprochment reflects Qadhafi's disappointment with the limited support he has received from Arab countries in his efforts to confront the international sanctions that were imposed on Libya after the explosion of PanAm flight 103.