Yes They Are, No They Are Not

"Chad is once again in the hands of the Chadians," declared an exultant French Foreign Minister Claude Cheysson last week. His claim: after a 15-month standoff in the sub-Saharan former French colony, both Libya and France had, by mutual agreement, withdrawn all their troops. But had they? "Substantial Libyan troops remain in Chad," snapped U.S. State Department Spokesman John Hughes. "The Libyan troops have completely withdrawn," reiterated a piqued Jean-Michel Baylet, the French Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Countered Chad's President, HisseneHabre, "The Libyan aggression has not ceased. That is the truth."

Less than 24 hours later, French President Franc,ois Mitterrand took off for the Greek island of Crete, and a surprise summit meeting with Libya's strongman, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Back in Paris, Mitterrand was forced to admit that, no, the Libyans had not completed their pull-out and that approximately two battalions still remained. There seemed little doubt, as the Paris daily Le Monde put it, that the U.S. statement had "profoundly embarrassed the The French bid adieu to Libyans French authorities."