BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

03/11/2008

Libya's Gadhafi visits Belarus after Russia trip

The Associated Press

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko greeted visiting Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi Sunday and said he hopes to boost ties between their countries.

Gadhafi arrived in the capital Minsk after his first visit to post-Soviet Russia. He had been expected to clinch a series of major arms deals during the trip in another sign of strengthening ties between the Cold War allies. But few details of his talks with Russian leaders were released.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said they had discussed "a series of strategic questions."

Gadhafi ended years of Libya's international isolation in 2003 when he renounced terrorism and gave up efforts to develop nuclear weapons. The same year, Libya accepted responsibility for the 1988 Pan Am airplane bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people, and agreed to pay compensation to families.

Since then, Western countries have stepped up oil and other investments with Libya, and European arms makers have begun competing for Libya's orders. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Gadhafi in Libya last month, the highest-level U.S. official to visit in 55 years.

Gadhafi's visit to Russia came at a time of strain between Moscow and the West over Russia's recent war with former Soviet republic Georgia. Belarus has also had a rocky relationship with the U.S., which denounced the former Soviet republic as a dictatorship.

Libya was an ally of the Soviet Union, but relations withered after the 1991 Soviet collapse. In the 1980s, Libya was a major customer for Soviet weapons. Russia now faces competition from Belarus and Ukraine for supplying arms to Libya.

This year, Russia has moved significantly to rebuild ties with the African nation.

Russia's leading business daily Kommersant reported Friday that Gadhafi was prepared to offer Russia's navy access to Libya's Mediterranean port of Benghazi. The newspaper said Gadhafi, fearing another U.S. attack, thinks a Russian military presence would be a deterrent.

Russia has sought to revive a naval presence in the Mediterranean and has looked toward historical allies in the region, such as Syria, as potential bases or ports. A Russian naval squadron on its way to the Caribbean recently stopped in Tripoli.

During a visit to Libya in April, Putin, who was then president, agreed to write off $4.5 billion in Libyan debt in exchange for lucrative deals in energy and arms. In return, Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom signed a deal to develop six prospective oil and gas fields in Libya.

Gadhafi said Saturday he hopes to increase energy ties with Moscow.

The Libyan leader, who last visited Moscow 23 years ago during the Soviet era, arrived in Moscow on Friday with an entourage of defense and energy officials and a dark-green Bedouin tent that was pitched in a Kremlin park.

Gadhafi is expected to visit Ukraine, another former Soviet republic, later in the week.

Source:

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/nov/03/libyas-gadhafi-visits-belarus-after-russia-trip/

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