Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday wrapped up his two-day visit to Libya, a "historic and strategic" one as his Libyan counterpart Muammar Ghaddafi hailed, according to news reaching Tunis from Tripoli.

Russian media said Putin was "satisfied with the visit," the first by a Russian president to Libya, during which 10 deals were signed and the two leaders agreed to boost their political, economic and military cooperation.

WAY TO RESUME TIGHT POLITICAL COOPERATION

Putin's visit came at a time when Libya's ties with the United States, despite the improvement in recent years, are confronted with obstacles including the continued pressure from the United States.

Although Libya and the United States reestablished diplomatic ties, they have not sent ambassadors to each other.

Hailing Putin as "our great guest" in the welcome speech, Ghaddafi said Libya hoped Russia would counter dominant force in order to realize international balance of power.

During Putin's visit, the two leaders expressed their willingness to cooperate in the United Nations.

Putin, at a dinner in Libya on Wednesday evening, termed Libya, a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2007-2008, "a friendly country in the Security Council with which we can work together to resolve problems."

Ghaddafi, for his part, stressed the necessity for a UN reform to face what he called an "imbalance of forces" internationally.

Russia, one of the five veto-wielding UN Security Council permanent members, is trying to resume its influence in the Middle East as the country has witnessed a fast economic development and consequent increase of national power in recent years.

Meanwhile, Libya, a close ally of the former Soviet Union, has seen an increase in its influence on the international stage after the northern African country abandoned its nuclear weapons in 2003 and made prominent headway in improving ties with the West.

SIGNIFICANT ECONOMIC, TRADE DEAL

The economic and trade deals reached during Putin's visit have been hailed by both sides.

The two countries agreed that Russia will write off billions of debt owed by Libya in exchange for business deals of multi-billion U.S. dollars for Russian companies, Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin was quoted as saying in Tripoli by Russian media. Russia and Libya had differed on the amount of Libya's debt. Russia put the debt at 4.5 billion dollars while Libya insisted it was only 1.6 billion dollars.

"We are satisfied about the way in which we resolved this problem," Putin was quoted as saying.

"I am absolutely convinced that the resolution we have found will help the Russian and Libyan economies," Putin said.

The largest commercial deal was a contract of 3.48 billion dollars for Russian state railways to build a 500-km railway line in Libya, with payment tied to the debt deal.

The railway agreement would make Russia a key supplier of technical material in Libya's drive to modernize its railway network, Kudrin said, adding that the debt would be canceled once Russian companies receive payments for the railway deal and other contracts.

Under another important accord, signed by Russia's gas giant Gazprom and Libya's national energy company, the two sides will cooperate in exploration, production and use of Libya's oil and gas reserves, said Gazprom's press service.

MILITARY COOPERATION

To cement military cooperation with Libya, the traditional weaponry export market of Russia, was one of the important goals of Putin's visit.

Agreement concerning military cooperation was included in the accords inked by the two countries.

According to Russian media, Russia drafted a contract worth nearly 3 billion dollars to modernize Libyan weaponry before Putin went to the country.

Libya has been actively seeking to cooperate with other countries to make peaceful use of nuclear energy after it announced giving up plans to develop weapons of mass destruction.

Russia helped Libya to build a nuclear research center in 1982.

Russia and Libya are reportedly expected to continue their cooperation on nuclear energy.

(Xinhua News Agency April 21, 2008)