September 19, 2000 Lome, Togo Togolese president and OAU current chairman, Gnassingbe Eyadema has discussed with Libyan leader Moammar Kadhafi, "the explosion in oil prices on the international market," informed sources said in Lome Tuesday. The diplomatic exchange was through a message from the Libyan leader to Eyadema delivered Monday by the Libyan ambassador to Togo, Awad Yossef Buhawia. According to the Libyan diplomat, Kadhafi wanted to share with Eyadema, his thoughts on the oil price increase which he said, "is not the fault of members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)," but results rather from the "pressure of Western countries". Such "pressure" naturally has repercussions on all populations, and particularly on Africans, said the Libyan envoy who pointed out that it is from this perspective that the Libyan leader wanted to examine with Eyadema, how to address the problem. Libya, an oil-producing country, has been developing a Pan- Africanist fervour, particularly in the form of an African Union treaty, which was adopted at the 36th Organisation of African Unity (OAU) summit, held in Lome in July. Observers in the Togolese capital note that Tripoli-Lome co-operation has been strengthening along the Pan-Africanist line and in this regard, it is believed that any unfavourable decision by OPEC, could impact negatively on its African members. The Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) recently revised downwards the growth rate of the economies of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), as a result of the increase in oil prices, among other factors. ------ Japanese foreign Minister Kio Hiro Araki arrived Monday night in Tripoli on a working visit to Libya. Diplomatic sources said the visit, the first by a senior Japanese official over the past seven years, was aimed at boosting co-operation between Tripoli and Tokyo. A delegation of Japanese foreign ministry experts visited Tripoli in July and August to discuss arrangements for the impending opening of Japanese embassy in Libya. In an arrival statement, Hiro said he hoped his visit would further enhance relations between the two countries, adding that by increasing co-operation with Tripoli, Tokyo hoped to cement its links with Africa. Relations between Libya and Japan had been strained for a long time because Japan sided with the US and the UK in the Lockerbie affair, under which two Libyan suspects are being tried in the Hague for allegedly masterminding the bomb-blast that destroyed an American passenger plane in late 1988. Most of Western countries have now resumed diplomatic ties with Libya and have re-opened their embassies after the Tripoli allowed the two suspects to be taken for trial under Scottish law. _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for anti-imperialist news. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________________
