CHAD/LIBYA/U.S.

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01070R000200820004-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 27, 2008
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: August 5, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2008/06/27: CIA-RDP88-01070R000200820004-4
ABC WORLD NEWS TON1GHT
5 August 1983
CHAD/LIBYA/ JENNINGS: Overseas today, and for most accounts, the civil war
U.S. in Chad is going very badly for the government. It is the
Libyan connection with the rebels which is causing concern in
Washington. As ABC's Barrie Dunsmore reports, the government of
Chad needs_heip and urges its friends to hurry.
DUN'SMORE: American analysts are predicting that unless someone
comes to the rescue, the govenment forces in Chad will be
defeated by Libyan-backed rebels within the next couple of days.
The 'someone to the rescue' would have to be the French air
force--with a little back-up from the U.S. Sixth Fleet.
According to American intelligence, the Libyan air force
continues to pound the forces of President Habre in northern
Chad. Chad has no air force at all, and the 30 Red-Eye
anti-aircraft missiles the U.S. sent earlier this week are not
sufficient to hold off the Libyan air force. JOHN HDGHES (State
Department Spokesman): The situation is serious and we are
concerned about it. We've seen the reports that Oum Chalouba
has been captured by. the Libyan-backed rebels.
MANKIEWICZ: President Reagan decided yesteday ta'increase
military aid from 10 to $25 million. But something more
immediate is needed. As Chad is a former French colony, and
its. other neighboring former French colonies are terrified at
the prospect of Libya's Khadafy `taking over Chad, France is the
obvious country to intervene. American officials say French
Jaguar fighter bombers, currently based in central Africa, could
make a major difference in northern Chad. They also hint that
the U.S. could create a diversion, so to speak, by stepping up
air operations of the carrier task force Eisenhower in the Gulf
of Sidra off Libya. The American AWAC surveillance planes now
in Egypt are already involved in monitoring Libyan air
operations. The U.S. is, hesitant to publicly urge France to
move, as the French traditionally balk at the notion of
responding to American pressure. however, the two sides are in
close consultation and it's likely to be, as one official here
put it, a Chad weekend. Barrie Dunsmore, ABC News, the State
Department.
Approved For Release 2008/06/27: CIA-RDP88-01070R000200820004-4