 It was assumed that war would , sooner or later , resume , but in the end the ceasefire violations were relatively minor . Gaddafi announced in May 1988 that he would recognize Habré as President of Chad " as a gift to Africa " , even if Libya refused to leave the disputed Aouzou Strip . On October 3 the two countries resumed diplomatic relations , and another important step was made when the two countries agreed in September 1990 to refer the dispute to the International Court of Justice . On February 3 , 1994 the court ruled in favour of Chad , thus definitively solving the Aouzou controversy by assigning the territory to the southern country . 
