Africa File: Russia targets "former" Soviet allies for arms sales, Algeria's $7.5 billion package advances strategic alliance with Moscow

Since Comrade Czar Vladimir Putin assumed the Russian presidency, old alliances that never really went away are re-emerging and expanding. These anti-Western coalitions include the Moscow-Beijing Axis and its various sub-axes, including Hanoi, Havana, Caracas, Managua, Algiers, Tripoli, Pretoria, Harare, Damascus, Tehran, and many others. In January 2007, while attending "ex"-Marxist dictator Daniel Ortega's inauguration, former Russian Prime Minister and Putin's personal envoy Sergei Stepashin referred to the 1990s as the Kremlin's "forfeited decade." By this Stepashin meant that the "self-collapse" of communism in Eastern Europe afforded the Leninist masterminds in Moscow an opportunity to regroup and subvert the West without observation. It worked.

Russia and Algeria are united in their opposition to "American hegemony" through a strategic partnership. During a 2001 visit to Moscow Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika stated: "Algeria stands for the establishment of a multi-polar world." He urged "Russia to make more efforts for a settlement of the Middle East conflict." For his part, Putin insisted that Algeria "absorb more Russian enterprises in its major construction projects" and, in line with the communist vision for the United Nations, "he also called for more UN dominant roles in solving regional problems." Putin reciprocated Bouteflika's visit, by traveling to Algiers in March 2006 (pictured above).

Russian military industries take aim at North Africa
Thursday, July 19, 2007

MOSCOW — Russia has targeted former Soviet allies in North Africa as potential military clients.

Officials and analysts said Moscow has been discussing major weapons deals with such countries as Egypt, Libya and Morocco. They said Russia has used the $7.5 billion arms deal to Algeria in March 2006 as the model for the rest of North Africa.

"The Algeria deal will trigger a pride race among the North African nations," Ruslan Pukhov, an analyst with the Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, said.

Algeria agreed to purchase fighter-jets, air trainers, main battle tanks and air defense systems in exchange for the elimination of its $4.7 billion debt to the former Soviet Union, Middle East Newsline reported. Under the deal, Algeria must first pay for the weapons before Moscow writes off the debt.

Officials said Libya and other North African states also owe billions of dollars to Moscow from the Soviet era. They said Moscow has offered to write off their debt and develop their energy industries as part of a major weapons deal.

Libya owes Russia $4.3 billion from the Soviet era, officials said. They said Libya has sought to modernize its military, but has failed to reach agreement with Western suppliers.

"In absence of means to force some of its debtors to pay, the most logical thing Russia can do with such debts is to use writing them off as a fare to access local arms markets," Ivan Safranchuk, head of the Moscow branch of the Center for Defense Information, said.

Source: World Tribune

In May 2007 we blogged about the restoration of military relations between the neo-Soviet state and its reliable Libyan ally. Tripoli intends to purchase a US$2.2 billion weapons package from Moscow.