MOSCOW, October 14. /TASS/. Libya will take part in the Russia-Africa summit in late October, though the level of its delegation’s representation will be officially announced later, Ali Juma Hassan Fadil, Libya's Ambassador to Iran, said in an interview with TASS.
"The level of Libya’s representation and the specific choice of participant fall exclusively within the sovereign competence of authorized Libyan authorities. Therefore, it would be wrong to preempt an official announcement or name a specific individual before a respective decision is made," he said when asked about the delegation’s participation in the upcoming summit and its level of representation. "The substance of Libya’s participation is more important than the name of the representative," the diplomat added.
Libyan-Russian relations "have political, economic, educational, and historical dimensions," he said, adding that there exists "significant potential for their development based on mutual interests and respect for Libya’s sovereignty and unity."
"It seems appropriate to focus Libya’s participation on practical areas that can be transformed into specific cooperation programs, such as reconstruction and infrastructure, energy and the oil and gas sector, food security and grain supplies, education, professional training, university programs, transport and logistics, as well as the expansion of economic ties between Russia and North Africa," the ambassador explained.
"Libya’s relations with Russia should develop within the framework of a balanced foreign policy open to cooperation with all partners," he concluded.
The third Russia-Africa summit will take place in Moscow on October 28-29. Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Sub-Saharan Africa Department Anatoly Bashkin told TASS earlier that more than 30 African nations had confirmed that they would participate in the event.