1101 tolerate such cm insult so long as it·luul 1101 he<'n "puhlicl_,, retracted"' by Chad. Since no settlement had been reached, it was agreed that a joint technical commission should be established to study the issue ard propose solutions. As will be seen below. the Commission was to meet at N" Djamena. The two delegations therefore went their separate ways without drawing up any minutes or is­ suing a communique. The Libyan delegation blocked the discussions because it did not want some of its statements to be recorded in minutes that might bring out some of its contradictions. 2. The N'Djw11£'11a 11£•gotiatio11s (.l1111e /977) The Joint Technical Commission established on the occasion of the mission of the Vice-President of the Higher Military Council to Tripoli met from 23 to 27 June 1977 at N"Djamcna. The Libyan delegation was led by Mr. Ahmad Elatrach, Deputy Secretary of State for Te<;hnical Af­ fairs in the Secretariat of State for Foreign °Affairs and Co-operation. There was only one item on the Com- 66 m1ss10n·s agenda: .. Search for ways and means of improving co-operation between Chad and Libya ... In fact, the discussions centred on the issue of the occupation of Tibesti by Libya. The Libyan side immediately stated that there was no frontier problem between Chad and Libya and that. even if there was, it would not prevent the implemen­ tation of co-operation agreements. It asserted that Libya·s present borders were in conformity with inter­ national agreements, in particular the stillborn Laval-Mussolini Treaty of 1935. The Chad side argued that. although the Laval­ Mussolini Treaty had been signed by France and Italy. there had never been any exchange of instruments of ratification, so that the Treaty had never existed le­ gally. The legal non-existence of the Laval-Mussolini 
**Analysis**
The text appears to be discussing a diplomatic meeting between Chad and Libya, focusing on border disputes and the implementation of cooperation agreements. The language used is formal and technical, suggesting a high-level diplomatic meeting. The topics discussed, such as border disputes and international agreements, also suggest a focus on international relations and diplomacy.

**Category**
International relations