Newsletter No. 257
May 1, 2006

 

A JAPANESE DELEGATION VISITS LIBYA

In October 2005, Japanese oil companies won their bids to develop six promising exploration zones in Libya. This seemed to herald an era of closer cooperation between the two countries (see Newsletter No. 103). In the six months that have passed since that time, however, there have been no news stories about further developments.

Now, something has finally appeared. The source is the Libya Jamahiriya Broadcasting Company, which reports that a Japanese delegation to the country has “expressed Japanese companies’ interest in boosting cooperation with Libya.”

The delegation is meeting with Libyan ministers, and the focus of the talks appears to be oil and petrochemicals. Unfortunately, the Libyan news service does not name the head of the Japanese delegation, except to note that he is “a former foreign minister.”

That being the case, a reasonable guess would be Koji Kakizawa, who is a former foreign minister, and a long-time champion of Japan-Libya relations. He has led such delegations in the past, even during the sanctions period.

Basic Timeline of Recent Japan-Libya Political Relations –

Sep. 2003 Jun. 2004 Aug. 2004 Jan. 2005 Mar. 2005 Apr. 2005 Oct. 2005 Jan. 2006 Apr. 2006

UN Security Council sanctions on Libya are lifted Senior Vice-Foreign Minister Ichiro Aisawa visits Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi Washington encourages Japan to seek Libyan oil instead of Iranian oil Japanese companies fail to attain any results in first round of Libyan oil concessions Koji Kakizawa leads a business delegation to Libya Saif al-Islam Qadhafi visits Japan Japanese companies win big in the second round of Libyan oil concessions Libyan Judoka invited to Japan on a friendship tour Japanese business delegation arrives in Libya

COMMENTARY

1) From Michael Penn of the Shingetsu Institute on May 3, 2006:

Ahmed Naili (Shingetsu Member No. 44) has offered us some corrections and additional information.

First of all, a new report makes it clear that the "former foreign minister" heading the mission to Libya is not Koji Kakizawa after all, but rather Nobutaka Machimura, the previous foreign minister of the Koizumi administration. This makes it an even more high-powered delegation in Libya than we had previously believed.

It should be recalled that Machimura had been sent as a Special Envoy to Kazakhstan in January (Shingetsu Newsletter No. 158). I'm getting the impression that Prime Minister Koizumi has a closer relationship with Machimura than with current Foreign Minister Aso, and that Machimura's low-key visits abroad should be regarded as important diplomatic events.

Ahmed Naili also adds that when Saif al-Islam Qadhafi visited Tokyo last year, Machimura took the time to meet with him, perhaps at the urging of Kakizawa. Machimura's current visit to Libya may represent his following through on those earlier contacts.