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Russia, Libya sign nuclear deal: Tripoli

Libya and Russia signed a civil nuclear cooperation deal on Saturday, Tripoli’s foreign minister said as Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi visited Moscow for talks he said could help restore “geopolitical equilibrium.”

Qaddafi’s first visit to Moscow since the Cold War era in 1985, which included meetings with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, was also expected to focus on oil and gas and arms purchases.

While Russian officials did not confirm the nuclear accord, Libyan Foreign Minister Abdelrahman Chalgham described it as touching on a range of issues.

“A cooperation agreement was signed in the area of the peaceful use of civilian nuclear, particularly in the design and construction of reactors and the supply of nuclear fuel,” said Chalgham, who accompanied Qaddafi.

The deal also extended to nuclear use in medicine and nuclear waste treatment, he said.

The Kremlin made no comment and Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov said no such agreement had been signed during the meeting between Qaddafi and Putin.

Sources in the Libyan delegation said the deal was signed by the head of Russia’s atomic energy agency, Rosatom, and Libya’s head of nuclear energy management.

Chalgham said the two countries also signed agreements related to calls for the creation of an OPEC-style body for gas-producing countries, among others.

Qaddafi had earlier spoken of cooperating on energy.

“Cooperation in the gas and oil sphere is extremely important now,” Qaddafi told Medvedev, speaking through a Russian translator.

“We will discuss economic issues and coordination in the foreign-policy sphere, matters which are very important at the moment,” Medvedev said.

At his meeting with Putin, Qaddafi said: “The development of our bilateral relations is a positive factor for the international situation ... It contributes to the reestablishment of geopolitical equilibrium.”

Putin said the delegations would discuss “big common projects,” adding that he was sure that this visit would stimulate “the development of our relations in all areas.”

Vedomosti newspaper reported on Saturday that Qaddafi might sign a pact on nuclear energy cooperation, citing a source involved in preparations for his visit.

Russia has reportedly been in talks to build a nuclear power plant in Libya, long a diplomatic pariah, but in recent years the country has rejoined the international community.

Other expected topics included a multibillion-dollar deal to upgrade Libya’s Soviet-era arsenal and lucrative contracts for Russian firms.

Libya might also offer to host a Russian naval base at the port of Benghazi, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported on Friday.

“The Russian military presence will be a guarantee of non-aggression against Libya from the United States,” it said.

Kommersant said that Moscow wanted Tripoli to join it in a “gas OPEC” with Qatar. Russia, Iran and Qatar said last month they were forming a joint forum for gas projects but stopped short of advocating an OPEC-style cartel.

However, on Saturday Russian papers seemed more interested in Qaddafi’s travel arrangements, with the Izvestia daily running the headline: “ Qaddafi set up his tent in the Kremlin.”

Qaddafi brings a traditional Bedouin tent along with him on state visits, which he uses to host guests. A journalist saw a small fire burning in front of the khaki-colored tent on Saturday in the Kremlin’s Tainitsky Garden.

A Kremlin source said ahead of the visit that the two would discuss “the peaceful atom” as well as “military-technical cooperation,” a term that typically describes arms purchases.
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