Russia cancels Libya's debt
Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in a move to rebuild ties with a former Soviet ally that is now increasingly open to foreign investment. Putin's visit Wednesday was the first by a Kremlim leader to the North African country. The two countries reached an agreement for Tripoli to repay Moscow some $4.6 billion in outstanding Soviet-era debt, one of the main disputes between the countries, Russia's RIA-Novosti news agency reported. Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel-Rahman Shalqam told The Associated Press that future Russian investment in Libya will cover the amount of the debt and more. "The matter of the debt has been settled conclusively," he said. "It is a thing of the past now." During the 1980s, Libya faced sanctions elsewhere but was a major customer of Soviet weapons, buying a large number of fighter jets, helicopters, tanks and equipment. Military and other ties withered after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Also Wednesday, the head of Russia's state-controlled gas monopoly Gazprom said the company is interested in projects in Libya, including the construction of an undersea gas pipeline from Libya to Sicily being built by the Italian firm Eni, the Russian news agency Interfax reported. Putin's bid to rebuild relations comes as Libya has dramatically improved ties with the West after Gadhafi announced in 2003 that he was dismantling his nuclear weapons program. The same year, Libya accepted responsibility for the 1998 Pan Am bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people, and agreed to pay compensation to families. |
