To put an end to the deadlock, Gaddafi proposed on 30 April a mutual withdrawal of both the French and Libyan forces in Chad. French President François Mitterrand showed himself receptive to the offer, and on 17 September the two leaders publicly announced that the mutual withdrawal would start on 25 September, and be completed by 10 November. The accord was at first hailed by the media as proof of Mitterrand's diplomatic skill and a decisive progress towards the solution of the Chadian crisis; it also demonstrated Mitterrand's intent of following a foreign policy independent from both the US and the Chadian government regarding Libya and Chad.