Kadafi seeks closer relations with Russia

In his first visit to Russia since Soviet times, Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi on Saturday lauded a new era of cooperation between the two countries, as he sought to take advantage of a recent chill between Moscow and Washington.

“Unfortunately, in the past our relations have been mostly focused on military cooperation and politics,” Kadafi said as he met with President Dmitry Medvedev. “There was no cooperation in the civilian sectors. Now, the Russian companies have already begun to work in various sectors of the Libyan economy. We consider especially important our cooperation in oil and gas.”

But Kremlin sources and experts alike agree that Kadafi’s visit to Moscow is intended not only to seek cooperation on energy but also to reach an agreement on buying Russian weapons to boost Libya’s defenses.

The Russian Interfax agency Friday quoted unnamed Kremlin sources as saying that Libya was interested in buying antiaircraft missile systems, two squadrons of fighter jets and a variety of other military hardware, including a diesel submarine.

A spokesman for Russian state weapons exporter Rosoboronexport, Vyacheslav Davidenko, neither confirmed nor denied the report. “The military cooperation between Libya and Russia has always existed,” Davidenko said. “It is continuing now, but I can’t disclose the amount or the sums involved.”

Kadafi, whom President Reagan once called a “mad dog,” has also reached out to the United States. The Bush administration restored full diplomatic ties with Libya in 2006, rewarding the longtime foe for pledging to give up terrorism and unconventional weapons. In September, Kadafi welcomed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to his high-security compound in Tripoli, the Libyan capital.

Russian defense expert Alexander Golts said that Kadafi, like Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez before him, was trying to take advantage of the rift in Russian-U.S. relations, in the wake of the Moscow’s incursion into Georgia, to beef up his military muscle.

“It is clear that the so-called rogue states . . . are trying to use the recent dramatic split in Russian-U.S. relations over the recent war in Georgia for their own ends,” Golts said.

He pointed out that Libya may profit more from the situation than Russia and the U.S. would prefer: “In a situation when in the heat of the growing confrontation Russia and the United States are beginning to increasingly flirt with Libya, it is quite possible that the tail may wag the dog.”

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sergei.loiko@latimes.com