Pakistan's Zardari visits Libya

Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi held talks on Friday with visiting Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on the situation in Pakistan and ways of bolstering ties between the two nations, officials said.

Zardari, who arrived late Thursday at the head of a large delegation, is on a three-day visit to the oil-rich North African country and his first to Libya since he became president in September 2008.Pakistan's ambassador to Libya Jamil Ahmad Khan said the visit is aimed at "improving economic ties between the two countries."

"We hope to restore them to what they were in the 1970s when more than 150,000 Pakistanis held jobs in Libya," he said late Thursday.According to official estimates only 10,000 Pakistani expatriates now work in Libya, while the volume of trade between the two countries stands at around six million dollars annually.

Libya's official JANA news agency said that Kadhafi and Zardari discussed "developments in Pakistan and the problems that the region is facing."The Pakistanian military has been locked in an almost week-long deadly offensive under US pressure against Taliban fighters.

During Zardari's visit Libya and Pakistan are expected to sign seven bilateral agreements, including economic, political, security and cultural accords, officials said.

JANA meanwhile quoted Zardari as highlighting his ties with Libya.

AFP