Tripoli - Emad Agag
Libyan political activist, Faraj Boujafoul Al-Zowi has informed his country\'s authorities that in 2007, the former regime of Muammar Al-Gaddafi gave Libyan nationality to an estimated 1658 Chadian families who live in Ouzou strip on the Libyan-Chadian border. Al-Zowi told the Al-Tadamon news agency that a significant rise in population was recorded in this region lately, amounting to 40,000 citizens in May last year at the outset of the Libyan uprising, when Libyan nationals, loyal to the former regime, were offering them to join Gaddafi’s forces, despite the fact that according to a UN decision issued in 1994, these citizens should be considered Chadians. The strip\'s case was submitted to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which issued a verdict in 1994 to consider the region as a Chadian land. Ouzou is a border strip which runs for 600 miles (around 1000 kilometres) along the Libyan-Chadian border, and extends to 60 miles (100 kilometres) to the south inside the state of Chad. It is located close to the north of Tipesty which is rich in uranium and manganese.