report (August 22), there has been yet another agreement to end the 13- year old civil war in Chad, with the leaders of the feuding factions agreeing to take part in a broad-based transitional government. The agreement was arrived at the end of a to-day summit of leaders of 11 groups which was held at Lagos, Nigeria. This is not the first time that Nigeria is mediating in the civil war in Chad, for only a few months ago, Kano in northern Nigeria had been the scene of another meeting of some of the rival warring factions in Chad, and where agreement had been reached about a new provisional government Chad is sparsely populated, semi- desert, and land-locked. Its population in the south is predorninemly animist or Christian while in the north Muslims are in a majority. Chad also stands at ethnic crossioads where Arabs meet black Africa, Its southern region, watered by perennial rivers like Chari, is densely populated and is also the source of Chad's principal crop, cotton. In contrast, the northern region is mostly desert where the semi-nomadic population wanders from oasis to oasis in search of fresh pastures.
