What Gaddafi told Salim when they met in 1990

Dar es Salaam. At a time when memories of the Chadian-Libyan War were still fresh in the minds of many, Tanzanian diplomat, Pan-Africanist and Statesman, Dr Salim Ahmed Salim, met and held talks with the then Libyan strongman, Muammar Gaddafi. The war – which was fought between 1978 and 1987 – involved a series of military campaigns in Chad by Libyan and allied Chadian forces against Chadian groups supported by France, with the occasional involvement of other foreign countries and factions.

And although a ceasefire was officially declared in 1987, mistrust between the two countries remained and thus the topic took centre stage when Gaddafi met and held talks with Dr Salim, who a few months earlier had assumed the role of Secretary-General of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which is now known as the African Union (AU).