Maputo — A Libyan technical team will shortly visit Mozambique to discuss Mozambique's debt to Libya, and possible Libyan investment, Foreign Minister Leonardo Simao told reporters on Tuesday.
He was speaking shortly after Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi left Maputo at the end of a two day state visit. Qaddafi is continuing his southern African tour with a visit to Malawi.
Mozambique's debt to Libya stands at about 140 million US dollars, incurred through the purchase of fuel in the 1980s.
At the state banquet offered to Qaddafi on Sunday, Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano had stressed the importance to Mozambique of cancelling the country's entire foreign debt.
But in his reply, Qaddafi rejected Chissano's appeal. Citing the Koran, he said that the debt must be repaid, although no interest would be charged.
Simao said that, when the Libyan technical team arrives, it will discuss possible scenarios for dealing with the debt.
Despite Qaddafi's Sunday speech, Simao gave two basic scenarios - the cancellation of the debt, or its conversion into investment.
"The technical teams will work to find a solution", he said.
"For us, the best thing would be the cancellation of the debt, but its conversion is also a strategy that could be followed by our government, since it means investment, savings and also the injection of fresh money into our economy".
Simao said that the various cooperation agreements with Libya, that date back to a visit by Mozambique's first president, Samora Machel, to Tripoli in 1982 were never implemented because of the difficulties both countries experienced.
"Libya was under international sanctions and so was unable to honour its undertakings", he explained, "while Mozambique was in a situation of war".
But Simao believed that the conditions now existed to relaunch bilateral cooperation, in which the key factor will be Libyan investment in Mozambique. Identifying opportunities for such investment will be one of the tasks of the Libyan technical team.
Simao said that an agreement was signed on Tuesday morning between the Foreign Ministries of the two countries envisaging "exchanges of information and experiences on questions of the international agenda".
Simao added that one conclusion from the visit was that Mozambique and Libya should work together to strengthen the African Union, the body that has replaced the OAU, as quickly as possible.
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The next summit of the African Union will be held in Maputo in July 2003. "Libya is one of the driving forces behind this initiative", said Simao, "and we shall work together for the success of the Maputo summit".
As for the Libyans' repeated violations of diplomatic protocol, Simao played this down.
"Here we're used to western protocol", he said. "But that's not universal. There are various kinds of protocol. It's not governed by any international code or convention. Monarchies, for instance, have different protocol practices from republics".
But Simao agreed with reporters that the Libyan security "was perhaps exaggerated".
Some of the Libyan behaviour was quite extraordinary - particularly on the journey from Swaziland to Maputo, when Qaddafi insisted on stopping the motorcade, and talking to a family of peasants (with Simao acting as one of the interpreters) while his entourage distributed hundred dollar bills.
