Selling oil across Libya

Chapter 86 Blocking the Door and Demanding Money

The colonel's arrogance did indeed cause harm to Libya.

However, the colonel's achievements should not be forgotten.

After the launch of Operation Odyssey Dawn, the colonel had the opportunity to leave Libya and go into exile like other disgraced politicians, enjoying the hundreds of billions of dollars in wealth his family had accumulated over decades.

The colonel never left Libya, and until the very last moment of his life, he continued to call on the Libyans: today, now, and in the future, we must continue to fight to the end against any foreign aggressors.

For this reason alone, the colonel deserves to be remembered by the Libyans.

Qin Rui has commissioned Libyan state television to produce a documentary reviewing the colonel's life and providing a proper assessment of his merits and demerits.

The Tripoli city government plans to erect a statue of the colonel in Martyrs' Square and rename the square Gaddafi Square.

Mukhtar suffered a sudden heart attack and was taken to the hospital where it was discovered that he also had a minor stroke. He was unconscious and unable to perform his duties.

Vice President Nasser al-Hassam served as interim president, replacing Mukhtar in handling government affairs.

Hai Shan is a bio-engineered human that Qin Rui redeemed from the system.

Like Mukhtar, Haisanne also opposed Yuri's statements regarding Guinea.

However, Haisin's approach was completely different from Mukhtar's.

Haishen suggested that Yuri revise the statement so that it would not target any country.

They also provided Guinea with 1500 million dinars worth of medicines and food as emergency aid, offering substantial support to Kamara.

Yuri then handed the task over to Haisan.

Libya's political structure is similar to that of France, adopting a semi-presidential system. The president is the head of state, decides the country's major policies, and leads foreign affairs and defense. He is the core of national power and the "de facto arbiter."

Although the prime minister, as the head of government, is appointed by the president and is responsible to the president, the power imbalance between Mukhtar and Yuri is very obvious.

Yuri issued the statement because Mukhtar was slow to react to the coup attempt in Guinea.

Now that the president had been replaced by Saddam Hussein, Yuri returned the powers that originally belonged to the president to Saddam.

Not satisfied, Satya Nadella continued to ask Marina, who was then the Minister of Finance, for more money.

The Libyan government's fiscal budget, compiled at the beginning of the year, projected total spending of 975 billion dinars, equivalent to US$195 billion.

Saddam Hussein wants to allocate an additional 20 billion dinars to upgrade the equipment at the Zawiya and Sidir chemical plants and improve Libya's petrochemical capabilities.

Libya is an oil-producing country, and even if it wants to make progress in artificial intelligence and automated manufacturing, it certainly cannot forget its original business.

"I have no money!"

Marina was decisive.

"Where's the money?"

Hai Shan was incredulous.

Libya's oil extraction costs are as low as single digits, and East Asia is open to buying up as much as it produces. Every day, oil tankers from East Asia line up at the ports of Zawiya and Siddar.

With nearly $1.5 million in profits every day, where did the money go?

"Tiger spent it all!"

Marina sighed helplessly; her position as finance minister was far more auspicious than Mukhtar's.

"Go find him!"

Haishan led Marina to Qin Rui to ask for money.

When Hai Shan arrived at the special assistant's office, Musa was asking Qin Rui for a fighter jet.

When Mukhtar visited the United States, Obama offered to sell him the American F-16 fighter jet, but the deal fell through due to identification issues.

Obama sold F-16s to Libya on the condition that these F-16s could not lock onto NATO aircraft.

Mukhtar wants to add an identity verification system.

It is not necessary to lock in the United States.

We must target English and French.

The only countries that could pose a threat to Libya are Britain, France, and the United States.

Libya has no intention of becoming an enemy of the United States.

However, when facing Britain, France, and especially France, Libya must have basic self-defense capabilities.

After careful consideration, Obama did not agree to Mukhtar's request.

Mukhtar's use of the arms purchase as a pretext to reveal his true intentions has pleased Obama, but he is also worried that giving F-16s a backdoor could affect relations between the United States and its NATO allies.

Since the F-16s did not meet Libya's requirements, Musa demanded the purchase of Russian-made aircraft.

Qin Rui disagreed.

In 2012, Russia remained one of the major sellers in the international arms market, and Russian-made fighter jets were highly favored by many countries.

Qin Rui, however, knew the details of Russia's situation.

Musa's choice of the Su-35 is indeed impressive in appearance, far surpassing the JF-17 recommended by Qin Rui.

The Su-35 first flew in 1992. Although there have been improvements since then, they have all been minor tweaks and modifications, without any major overhauls. Its avionics system is still a product of the last century, and its performance is far inferior to that of the JF-17.

The key is that a single JF-17 Thunder fighter jet costs only $30 million.

The price of the Su-35 exceeds 8000 million.

Musa disliked the JF-17's appearance and instead requested to purchase the J-11 fighter jet.

That's even less likely.

Ten years ago, Indonesia intended to purchase J-11 fighter jets, but the agreement failed to be reached due to Russian opposition.

When East Asia acquired the Su-27, there was an agreement with Russia that stipulated that the Chinese-made Flanker series fighter jets could not be exported.

The J-11's performance is significantly improved compared to the Su-27. Even Russian pilots admitted after test-flying the J-11 that it is completely different from the Su-27 and is a brand-new fighter jet.

It can't be said to be brand new either.

Although the aerodynamic shape of the J-11 has been improved, it is still based on the "Flanker" platform. Therefore, Russia's demand that East Asia not sell the J-11 cannot be said to be entirely unreasonable.

Taking into account its relationship with Russia, China halted the export of the "Flanker" series aircraft, which will only be used for its own equipment.

"This won't work, that won't work, Libya's skies can't be protected by drones alone."

Musa was in a hurry and wanted to modernize Libya's defense overnight.

"We also have Shield 2000 and Omar."

Qin Rui is not seeking to attack; the deterrent effect of a 2000-point shield is still considerable.

Omar is a short-range tactical missile developed by Libya based on the Shield 2000 and drone navigation technology. It has a range of 500 kilometers and is named after Omar Mukhtar, the "Lion of the Desert" who once led Libya in its fight against the Italian invasion.

As for the fact that the colonel is also named Omar, that's purely coincidental.

"Omar's performance is too poor. Who can it fight at 500 kilometers? It can't even fly out of Libya."

Musa was very dissatisfied with Omar's shooting range.

500 kilometers is not even enough for France, let alone Italy.

Only in this way can we avoid arousing concern among neighboring countries.

If Libya were to launch tactical missiles with a range exceeding that of Paris right from the start, Hollande would probably have sleepless nights.

"This is our first missile, so we can't expect too much."

Qin Rui is content; he'll take it slow.

"Is Omar already in production?"

Hai Shan was shocked. Such a big thing, and the president didn't even know? Do you even have any respect for the president?

"No, only two were made for technical verification."

Qin Rui frankly admitted that it's still a long way off before they can officially equip the troops with it.

However, since we already have them, we can produce more whenever the troops need them.

"Tiger, let's talk about finances."

Hai Shan demanded that Qin Rui hand over at least a portion of the oil profits to the Libyan government.

Before Qin Rui could speak, Yuri walked in carrying a file folder.

They're here to ask for money too.