afrol News, 30 October - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi will visit Russia for the first time since 1985 on Friday, to deepen relations on energy and military partnership with Moscow, local media said.

"At the invitation of the Russian president, leader of the Libyan Revolution Moamer Gaddafi will come to Russia for an official visit from October 31 to November 2," Kremlin said in a statement.

Russia's Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily said Mr Gaddafi's visit is the latest step in a bold push by former outcast state to accelerate overseas trade and investment for its booming post-sanctions economy.

Libya has seen a foreign investment rush since 2003, when UN Security Council lifted more than a decade of sanctions imposed for what West called Libyan support of terrorism.

Libya, which during Cold War bought many of its weapons from Moscow, is seeking fighter planes, tanks and air defence systems as well as spare parts for arms it already owns, the paper said, citing unnamed Russian officials.

Mr Gaddafi is expected to meet president Dmitry Medvedev six months after welcoming his predecessor and current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on the first visit by a Kremlin leader.

In April, during a visit to Tripoli by then-president Vladimir Putin, Moscow agreed to cancel billions of dollars of Libyan Soviet-era debt in exchange for multi-billion-dollar contracts with Russian companies.

During his visit, Russian gas giant Gazprom signed a cooperation agreement with Libya's national energy company while Russia's rail monopoly signed a 2.2-billion-euro contract to build a railway line in Libya.

Russia's Interfax news agency said Libya might agree to buy more than 1.6 billion euro worth of Russian weapons during the visit.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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