P 171259Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4927
INFO AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 
CDR USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
DIA WASHINGTON DC
CIA WASHDC
EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI

C O N F I D E N T I A L TRIPOLI 000482 
 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/MAG 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  6/16/2019 
TAGS: PGOV PREL MARR MASS TRGY KNNP MCAP ETTC RU LY
SUBJECT: RUSSIAN NSC DELEGATION TO VISIT LIBYA JUNE 22-24 
 
REF: TRIPOLI 476 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Gene A. Cretz, Ambassador, U.S. Embassy - Tripoli, U.S. Dept of State. REASON: 1.4 (b), (d)

1.(C) Russian DCM Anatoly Martynov told P/E Chief June 11 that a Russian National Security Council (NSC) delegation is scheduled to visit Libya June 22-24. According to Martynov, the visit is at the invitation of Libyan National Security Adviser Muatassim al-Qadhafi (son of Muammar al-Qadhafi) and stemmed from a meeting in mid-May in Sochi between Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Libyan Prime Minister al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi. The delegation is expected to meet with Muammar al-Qadhafi, Muatassim al-Qadhafi and Prime Minister al-Mahmoudi. The principal subject to be discussed, according to Martynov, is military training and the potential sale of military equipment to Libya (including heavy-lift and tactical cargo aircraft, helicopters, attack aircraft, light armored vehicles, small coastal patrol craft and night vision equipment). Responding to the Ambassador's question about the status of the Russia-Libya Highly-Enriched Uranium/Low-Enriched Uranium (HEU-LEU) Agreement to facilitate the return to Russia of spent nuclear fuel from Libya, the Russian Ambassador said he believed the agreement was now with the General People's Committee (Cabinet-equivalent) for approval. He suggested that the NSC delegation would seek to discuss the agreement with GOL interlocutors during the upcoming visit.

2.(C) The NSC visit comes on the heels of a visit last week by a senior Russian trade delegation headed by Ara Abramyan. Abramyan co-chairs the Russia-Libya Inter-Governmental Commission and, according to Martynov, orchestrated the mid-May meeting of PMs in Sochi. Key subjects of discussion during the trade delegation's visit were the establishment of a commercial center for refurbishment of Soviet-era Libyan military equipment and a series of factories in Libya under the rubric of a joint venture investment scheme. Martynov said Libyan officials had asked in the course of Abramyan's visit whether Russia was interested in making a counter-proposal to Ukraine's offer to establish a center in Libya to refurbish Soviet-era Mi-8 helicopters (reftel).

3.(C) Comment: Russia-Libya cooperation has continued apace since the November 2008 visit to Moscow by Muammar al-Qadhafi, his first in the post-Soviet era. In addition to cooperation in establishing an international gas cartel akin to OPEC and increased activity by Gazprom in Libya, there appears to have been an uptick in military-to-military discussions, which have principally been conducted on the Libyan side by the National Security Council. End comment. CRETZ