The Yale Journal of International Law Volume 17, Number 2, Summer 1992 Articles Title to the Aouzou Strip: A Legal and Historical Analysis Matthew M. Ricciardi I. INTRODUCTION ................................................ 304 I. THE AoUzou STRIP AND ITs INHABrrANTs................................. 310 A. The Geography of the Area ......................... : ........... 310 B. The Toubous ............................................... 313 1. Area of Inhabitationand Origins ................................ 313 2. Physical and Cultural Traits of the Toubou People .................... 314 3. Social, Economic, and Political Organization ....................... 315 a. The Impact of the Physical Surroundings: The Clan System ............ 316 b. Structures of Authority: The Chief ........................... 319 c. Fragmentationand Recombination of Clans ...................... 321 d. Summary ........................................... 322 4. Geographic Distributionof the Toubou Clans ....................... 322 a. The Teda Clans of Tibesti ................................ 323 b. The Clans of Borku and Ennedi ............................. 329 5. Some ConclusionsAbout the Toubous ............................ 333 Ill. HISTORY OF THE AREA .......................................... 334 A. From the Tenth to the Nineteenth Century: The Influence of Kanem, Bornu, and Tripoli ................................................. 334 1. The Dominance of the South: Kanem, Bornu, and Ouadai ................ 335 2. The KaramanliDynasty in Tripoli and Expeditions to the South, 1711-1835 ..... 337 3. Early Ottoman Initiatives and Disturbancesfrom the East, 1835-1900 ........ 338 4. The Sanusi ............................................ 340 a. Origins and Spread of the Orderfrom 1856 to the late 1890s ........... 341 b. The Extent of Sanusi Influence: An Assessment .................... 344 5. Summary .............................................. 346 t J.D., Yale Law School, 1992; A.B., Princeton University, 1989. I would like to thank Professor W. Michael Reisman for his guidance and insightful suggestions. Special thanks also to Eric Beckman, Henry Davis, Dan Ehrenberg, Peter Samuelson, and Michale Walters for their tireless editorial efforts. 301 Yale Journal of International Law Vol. 17:301, 1992 B. The Turkish Presence and the First French Occupation of B.E.T., 1900-1916 ...... 346 1. Early French Probes, 1902-1909 ................................ 347 2. The Initial Turkish Response, 1900-1909 .......................... 348 3. Turkish Actions After the Young Turk Revolution, 1909-1912 .............. 350 a. The Arrival of Osman Efendi at Bardar.......................... 350 b. The Arrival of Captain R/ib at Ain Galakka ..................... 352 c. The FrenchReaction to RI ............................... 353 4. The French Conquest After the Turkish Evacuation, 1913-1916 ............ 355 5. Summary .............................................. 357 C. France'sWithdrawal From Tibesti, Subsequent Reoccupation, and Friction With Italy, 1916-1940 .............................................. 358 1. The Withdrawal From Tibesti ................................. 358 2. The Italian TerritorialDemands and France'sReoccupation of Tibesti ........ 359 3. The Mussolini-LavalAccords ................................. 362 4. Summary .............................................. 363 D. From World War 11 to Libyan Independence ........................... 363 E. The ChadianRevolt and Libya's Occupation of the Aouzou Strip, 1960-1973 ....... 366 F. ChangingAlignments and Attempts to Resolve the Dispute, 1973-1991 ........... 370 1. Overview ............................................. 370 2. The Malloum Government, BilateralDiscussions, and the Bongo Committee, 1975-1978 ............................................ 370 3. Goukouni, Habrj, and the GUNT, 1979-1982 ....................... 374 4. The HabrJ and Deby Governments, 1982-1991 ...................... 377 IV. THE OPERATIVE LEGAL PRINCIPLEs IN THE Aouzou STRIP DIsPUTE ............... 382 A. The Law of Occupation......................................... 385 1. The Confluence of Animus Domini and Corpus: Intention and Ability to Exercise Effective Control Over Territory .............................. 386 2. Codification of the Requirement of Effective Occupation ................. 391 a. The Final Act of the Conference of Berlin, 1885 ................... 391 b. The Declaration of the Institut de DroitInternational, 1888 ............ 393 c. The Convention of St.-Germain-en-Laye, 1919 .................... 395 3. The Definition of Terra Nullius ................................ 395 a. The Three Schools of Thought on Tribal Sovereignty ................ 396 b. The View of the InternationalCourt of Justice in the Western Sahara ...... 400 c. Summary ........................................... 402 4. Time Required to Complete an Occupation......................... 403 5. The Extent of the Occupied Territory: HinterlandTheories ............... 404 a. The Restrictive View of the Publicists .......................... 406 b. The Permissive View Embodied in State Practice .................. 408 6. Spheres of Influence ....................................... 409 7. Disguised Occupation: The Colonial Protectorate ..................... 412 B. Prescription ............................................... 413 The Aouzou Strip C. Conquest ................................................ 414 D. Cession ................................................. 415 E. Abandonment .............................................. 415 F. Principles of Islamic Law and the Arguments in Western Sahara ................ 416 1. Principles of the Islamic Law of Nations .......................... 417 2. The Western Sahara Case ................................... 418 a. Arguments Based on the Special Characterof the Moroccan State ........ 419 b. Considerationof the Sultan's Acts in Western Sahara ................ 422 3. Summary .............................................. 424 G. State Succession ............................................ 425 H. The Principle of Uti Possidetis ................................... 425 1. From Pan-Africanismto Uti Possidetis ........................... 426 2. The Burkina Faso-Mali Boundary Dispute ......................... 426 3. Importance to the Present Dispute ............................... 428 I. The Norm of Decolonization ..................................... 429 J. Relevant Principles of the Law of Treaties ............................. 430 1. The Law of Coercion in Treaty-Making ............................ 431 2. The Conclusion, Ratification, and Denunciation of Treaties ............... 432 K. Conclusion ............................................... 434 V. ANALYSiS OF THE CHADiAN AND LBYAN CLAims .......................... 434 A. Chad's Treaty-Based Claims .................................... 435 1. The 1955 Treaty of Friendship and Good Neighborliness ................ 435 2. The 1898 and 1899 Sphere of Influence Treaties and the 1902 Barrare-Prinetti Letters .............................................. 435 a. Legitimacy of the Delimitation of Zones of Influence ................ 437 b. Legitimacy Notwithstanding Failure to Specify Ownership ............. 438 c. French Attempts to Mollify Italy ............................. 439 d. The Question of the Map Annexed to the 1899 Declaration ............ 440 e. Discrepancy Between Treaty Language and Later Practice ............ 441 3. Later Treaties Clarifying the Boundary ........................... 443 a. The 1919 Convention and the 1924 Protocol ..................... 443 b. Effect of the 1955 Treaty on EarlierAgreements ................... 447 c. The 1934 Exchange of Notes ............................... 448 4. The 1966 Treaty with Libya .................................. 448 5. Summary .............................................. 450 B. Libyan Attempts to Undermine the 1955 Treaty .......................... 450 1. The Alleged Cession of 1972 ................................... 451 2. Attacking the 1955 Treaty as Colonial Diktat ....................... 453 a. ldris'sEarly Ties to the West .............................. 454 b. The Formation of the Libyan State ............................ 455 c. The Early Years of the Monarchy ............................ 456 d. Foreign Policy, the Base Agreements, and the Final Years of the Monarchy .. 456 303 Yale Journal of International Law Vol. 17:301, 1992 e. Conclusion .......................................... 459 C. The Mussolini-LavalAccords .................................... 460 1. The Treaty of Rome ....................................... 460 2. Analysis of Libya's Argument ................................. 463 D. The Sufficiency of the French Occupation ............................ 466 E. Occupation and the Question of Prior7tle ............................ 467 1. The Toubous ............................................ 468 2. The Sanusi ............................................. 470 3. The Ottoman Presence Under TraditionalPrinciples ................... 472 a. Acts of Occupation...................................... 473 b. Succession to Turkish Rights ............................... 475 c. Turko-Sanusi Cooperation ................................ 476 4. Libyan Arguments Based on Non-Traditional Principles ................. 479 a. Turkish Claims to the Region as a Hinterland .................... 480 b. Arguments Based on the Special Characteristicsof the Area and Its People and the Nature of the Ottoman