Holtom, Paul and Christelle Rigual. 2015 ‘Small Arms Transfers to Libya, 2001-2010.’ Small Arms Survey 2015: Weapons and the World; Chapter 4, p. 102. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press and the Small Arms Survey, the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva. 1 June

Relevant contents

Small arms transfers to Libya, 2001-2010

Libya's 2010 national report on the implementation of the UN Programme of Action on small arms stated that 'no weapons are manufactured in the Jamahiriya' (Libya, 2010, p.2). Yet some reports indicate that the Soviet Union had built, or had almost finished building, a small arms factory in Libya in 1985 (Felgenhauer, 2007; Lenta, 2010). The Russian media reported in February 2010 that a contract had been signed to build a factory and grant a licence to Libya to manufacture Kalashnikov AK-103 assault rifles (Nikolskii, 2010). Nevertheless, Libya relied on imports to meet its small arms procurement needs…

During the period 2001-10, Libya reported to UN Comtrade only in 2009 and 2010, noting small arms imported from three countries and valued at USD 83,071 (see Table 4.8a in Annexe 4.4). In contrast, 18 countries reported exporting USD 15 million worth of small arms to Libya during this period. Three countries reported small arms exports to the UN Register in 2009-10. According to UN Comtrade and national reports, the largest exporters of small arms to Libya in 2001-10, by order of importance, were Italy, South Korea, the UK, Austria, and Iran (see Table 4.8 and Annexe 4.4). While Ukraine reported a transfer of 100,000 'assault rifles or sub-machine guns' to Libya in 2006, it did not specify the value of the transfer, as noted in Table 4.8…

[Small arms = revolvers and self-loading pistols, rifles and carbines, sub-machine guns, assault rifles, and light machine guns; UN Comtrade = United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database; UN Register = United Nation Register of Conventional Arms; USD = US dollars]

Sources Cited:
Libya. 2010. Report of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya on Implementation of the United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects Submitted Pursuant to General Assembly Resolution 64/50.
http://www.poa-iss.org/NationalReport/NationalReports.aspx

Felgenhauer, Pavel. 2007. 'Putin Makes Sweetheart Arms Deal to Benefit His Cronies.' Eurasia Daily Monitor, Vol. 4, Iss. 91. 9 May.
http://www.jamestown.org/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=32730&no_cache=1#.VHm0qzGsXTg

Lenta. 2010. 'Russia to Finish Building a Kalashnikov-producing Factory in Libya' [in Russian]. 5 February.
http://lenta.ru/news/2010/02/05/deal/

Nikolskii, Aleksei. 2010. 'Receiving Tanks and Assault Rifles' [in Russian].
Vedomosti (Russia). 5 February.
http://www.vedomosti.ru/newspaper/article/2010/02/05/224831

Annexe 4.4 Authorized transfers of small arms and light weapons to Egypt, Libya, and Syria, 2001-13
Online annexes at: http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/publications/by-type/yearbook/small-arms-survey-2015.html

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