VZCZCXRO4825
PP RUEHTRO
DE RUEHC #1820/01 2821851
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 091835Z OCT 07
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI PRIORITY 6082
INFO RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 2823

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 STATE 141820 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
CAIRO FOR M. RICCIARDONE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL SENV KSCA LY
SUBJECT: U/S DOBRIANSKY,S SEPTEMBER 25 MEETING WITH 
          LIBYAN FOREIGN MINISTER ABDULRAHMAN SHALGAM 
 
REF: STATE 136038 
 
This cable is Sensitive but Unclassified.  Please handle 
accordingly. 
 
¶1.  (U) September 25, 2007; 1700; New York City, United 
States. 
 
¶2.  (U) Participants: 
 
U.S. 
Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs Dobriansky 
NEA Senior S&T Advisor Lawson (Notetaker) 
 
Libya 
Foreign Minister Abdulrahman Shalgam 
Ambassador Ali Aujali 
Deputy Permanent Representative Mubarak 
Sofiane Belkheir (Notetaker) 
 
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Summary 
------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) In an expansive hour long discussion, U/S 
Dobriansky and FM Shalgam agreed that it is in both 
governments' interest to broaden the scope of U.S.-Libya 
cooperation beyond its current level.  U/S Dobriansky 
informed the FM that the U.S. is ready to move forward with a 
Science and Technology (S&T) agreement and suggested that we 
could consider making this agreement a deliverable for a 
proposed visit by the Secretary.  FM Shalgam immediately 
embraced the idea.  He then noted Libya's interest in further 
expanding cooperation and, as appropriate, developing 
agreements to cover many additional areas, mentioning 
specifically education and cultural affairs, youth exchanges, 
media/journalist exchanges, energy, environment, double 
taxation, investment, and civil aviation.  The U/S and the FM 
agreed to focus efforts on the S&T agreement and a cultural 
agreement in the run up to a possible visit by the Secretary. 
 The FM expressed the hope that the Secretary could visit 
Libya in late October in conjunction with the high level 
meeting on Darfur that Libya will host on October 27.  End 
Summary. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Science and Technology Agreement 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) U/S Dobriansky began the meeting by noting that the 
USG is interested in building on her July 2006 visit to Libya 
and OES A/S McMurray's November 2006 follow-up visit during 
which discussions on U.S.-Libya science and technology (S&T) 
cooperation began.  She went on to say that the USG believed 
a good way to move the S&T dialogue forward would be to 
negotiate and conclude a U.S.-Libya S&T agreement.  The U/S 
stated that the USG is ready to negotiate such an agreement 
and could send a negotiator to Libya at the Libyan 
Government's earliest convenience.  She suggested that an S&T 
agreement might be one deliverable for a possible visit to 
Libya by the Secretary. 
 
¶5.  (U) FM Shalgam enthusiastically embraced the U/S's 
suggestion.  He noted that there is a great need to 
strengthen Libya's S&T human resource capacity and 
rehabilitate its research laboratories.  The FM said that Dr. 
Ahmad Fituri, Director of the MFA,s Americas Division, would 
be the Libyan coordinator for the negotiations and that they 
would welcome a visit by the U.S. negotiating team in the 
near future.  The FM instructed Ambassador Aujali to 
facilitate the issuance of visas in Washington for the U.S. 
team. 
 
¶6.  (U) The FM said it was important for Libya that the S&T 
agreement be promptly implemented.  Senior Advisor Lawson 
described how the U.S. typically implements such agreements. 
He noted that once an agreement is signed, the coordinators 
designated by each side begin consultations to develop an 
initial list of topics of common interest.  Once those topics 
are identified, each side can put together an interagency 
team of experts to discuss the topics in more detail and 
develop recommendations for specific cooperation.  The FM 
endorsed such an approach. 
 
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STATE 00141820  002 OF 002 
 
 
Other Areas of Cooperation 
-------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) In addition to his support for S&T cooperation, the 
FM also emphasized his strong support for broadening 
cooperation between Libya and the U.S. across the board.  He 
stressed that the Libyan Government is ready and eager to 
expand and upgrade relations with the U.S. in all areas, 
noting that the bilateral U.S.-Libya relationship will grow 
stronger as more people from different sectors of both 
societies interact and develop personal and professional 
relationships.  During the discussion, the FM mentioned the 
following specific areas of interest to Libya: 
 
-- Education and Cultural affairs.  The FM noted that he had 
told NEA A/S Welch during their September 24 meeting (Reftel) 
that Libya has 2000 students identified and ready to be 
trained in the U.S. in many fields (including science and 
engineering).  He expressed hope that two-way exchanges would 
become regularized and frequent.  The FM informed the U/S 
that Libya would soon nominate a Cultural Attache for its 
Embassy in Washington, who will be able to facilitate 
exchanges. 
 
-- Youth and Media/Journalist exchanges.  The FM said that 
Libya needs to provide its next generations with new 
opportunities.  Youth exchanges could help in that area.  He 
also noted that Libya needs to get beyond state run media, 
and he would like to institute journalist exchanges so that 
Libyan journalists can train in the U.S. for six months to a 
year. 
 
-- Energy and Environment cooperation.  The FM noted the 
importance of these issues for Libyan development.  We noted 
that these topics would be covered by the S&T agreement. 
 
-- Double Taxation and Investment agreements.  The FM noted 
the importance of agreements on these issues to expand 
private sector engagement. 
 
-- Civil Aviation agreement.  The FM said that with the 
expansion of the U.S.-Libya relationship and the concomitant 
expansion of travel between the two countries, a civil 
aviation agreement would facilitate people from both 
countries visiting the other.  He noted that his GOL plane to 
New York was the first Libyan plane in over three decades to 
receive diplomatic clearance to fly non-stop from Tripoli. 
In a related comment, Amb. Aujali expressed concern that many 
Libyans transiting in Europe to an American carrier for a 
flight to the U.S. have problems with security. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Preparing for a possible S Visit 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) The U/S and the FM agreed that in the run up to a 
possible visit by the Secretary it makes sense to focus on a 
subset of all the cooperation areas they discussed.  They 
agreed to focus on the S&T agreement and education and 
cultural affairs cooperation. 
 
¶9. (SBU) As he had done in his meeting with A/S Welch 
(Reftel), Foreign Minister Shalgam told U/S Dobriansky that 
he hoped the Secretary would be able to visit Libya in late 
October in conjunction with the October 27 high level meeting 
on Darfur that Libya will host. 
 
¶10. (U) Tripoli minimize considered. 
RICE