Libya Says It Recaptured Key Outpost; Chadians Deny Claim

The Libyan government said it recaptured the fiercely contested strategic desert outpost of Aozou in a disputed border area on Friday after killing or routing Chadian troops. Chad denied the report.

“After all political and diplomatic solutions failed, Libyan troops were ordered to occupy Aozou,” the Libyan news agency Jana reported from the capital. “The Libyan army now controls Aozou completely after having destroyed and expelled the enemy.”

Chad’s embassy in Paris said Friday night that Aozou was under Libyan ground and air attack. “At this moment, extraordinarily violent fighting is continuing,” it said in a statement.

Jana said the fighting lasted for two hours but gave no other details. The state-run Libyan radio also broadcast the announcement and congratulated the military.

Independent confirmation of the conflicting reports was not immediately available.

Aozou is the main town in a 70-mile-wide strip of land along Chad’s northern frontier that Libya annexed in 1973. No other government has recognized the annexation.

President Hissen Habre’s army routed the Libyans from the rest of northern Chad in March, and he vowed to retake the Aozou Strip, believed to be rich in uranium and other minerals. Chad said it captured the town of Aozou and nearby areas on Aug. 8.

Libya has mounted steady air raids on the reconquered northern towns. Its reported capture of Aozou came after two unsuccessful attempts to retake Aozou and surrounding areas earlier this month.

Chad says it has killed 1,225 Libyan solders and captured 360 in battles this month. The casualty toll could not be independently verified, but West European diplomats said it appears to be a reasonable estimate.

The Chadian government issued a statement Friday denying Aozou was recaptured and said the Libyan report was designed to bolster Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi, who celebrates his 18th anniversary in power on Sept. 1.

“Kadafi finds it necessary to announce a military victory . . . to appease his fellow countrymen,” said the statement, read on Chad radio and monitored in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

France, Chad’s former colonial ruler, maintains an estimated 1,500 troops in Chad.