The French troops, instead of attempting to expel the Libyan forces from Chad, drew a "line in the sand". They concentrated their forces on the 15th parallel, the so-called "Red Line," (later moved up to the 16th parallel) to block the Libyan and GUNT advance towards the N'Djamena, thus saving the Chadian President Hissène Habré. The Libyan and rebel forces also avoided attacking across the Red Line and provoking the French. The resulting impasse led to the "de facto" partition of Chad, with the Libyans and the GUNT in the north and Habré and the French in central and southern Chad.