Libya and Chad have signed seven agreements to boost trade, security and political cooperation, DPA quoted Libya's official news media as announcing today. The announcement followed late-night meetings Saturday between ministers from both countries, led by Libyan Prime Minister al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi and Chadian Prime Minister Yusef Salih Abbas, and covered trade, investment, agriculture, transportation, security and politics. Libyan leader Moamer al-Gaddafi and Chadian President Idriss Deby met separately to discuss means of implementing resolutions to give the African Union a greater role in resolving African conflicts taken at July's AU summit in Libya. They also discussed means of preserving Lake Chad, which satellite photos show has shrunk from 23,000 square kilometers to just 900 square kilometers in the past 40 years, in part because of greater irrigation.
