Medvedev begins series of four official visits to Africa Tue.

MOSCOW, June 23 (Itar-Tass) - President Dmitry Medvedev of the Russian
Federation (RF) sets out on a series of four official visits to the
African continent.

The Russian Head of State is to arrive in Egypt on Tuesday, visit
Nigeria on Wednesday, make a visit to Namibia on Thursday and wind up the
working week in Angola.
While in Cairo, the President of Russia is to hold talks with Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak in narrow and broader formats. At the close of
consultations between the two leaders, there will be a ceremony to sign a
package of bilateral documents, of which a Treaty on Strategic Partnership
between the RF and Egypt will be the main one.
It is also planned to sign a treaty on the transfer of persons
convicted for deprivation of freedom to serve their sentences in their
countries, a Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries'
Ministries of Natural Resources, a protocol on cooperation in the field of
television and radio broadcasting, an agreement on cooperation in State
drug control, and a number of other accords.
The programme for Medvedev's visit to Egypt also provides for a
conversation with Patriarch Feodor II of Alexandria and All Africa, and a
tour of St George monastery compound. It is located in the Christian
quarter of in the old part of Cairo and is reckoned to have been founded
in AD 4th century.
The monastery's main church, the emergence of which dates back to the
12th-14th centuries, where St George fetters are kept, is of
historico-architectural interest. Both Christians and Muslims of Egypt
venerate the fetters. The St George Church that belongs to the Greek
Orthodox Church is located next to the monastery.
On Tuesday afternoon Medvedev will tour the headquarters of the League
of Arab States (LAS). He will meet with LAS Secretary-General Amr Moussa
and address the Permanent Representatives of the LAS member-countries. The
Russian President will end his working day with a meeting with Dr. Ahmad
Fathi Sorour, Speaker of Egypt's People's Assembly and Chairman of the
Egypt-Russia Friendship Association.
On Wednesday Medvedev will arrive in Nigeria for the first-ever visit
there by a Russian Head of State. In accordance with Protocol rules, upon
arriving in Abuja he will have a brief conversation with the country's
Foreign minister and then hold talks with President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua.
The talks will be held in a narrow format at first and then in a broader
one. At the close of the talks the leaders will make statements for the
press. A number of documents will be signed in their presence. In
particular, the two Presidents will adopt a Joint Communique. The sides
are also to sign a treaty on the transfer of persons, convicted to
deprivation of freedom, to serve their sentences in their countries,
agreements on mutual protection of capital investments, on cooperation in
the peaceful uses of outer space, as well as the basic instruments for the
establishment of a joint venture between Gazprom and the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation. The JV presupposes Russian investments amounting to
$2,500 million in the production and processing of Nigerian gas. In
conclusion of his stay in Abuja, Medvedev will lay a wreath at the
monument to those who fell in the struggle for Nigeria's independence.
On the night from Wednesday to Thursday the President of Russia will
arrive in Namibia for a visit that will be also the first one in the
history of bilateral relations. The programme for the visit provides for
talks in narrow and broader formats with President Hifikepunye Lucas
Pohamba. As a result of the talks the sides will sign a package of
documents. The leaders will adopt a Joint Communique. In their presence,
the sides will sign agreements on mutual encouragement and protection of
capital investments, a Memorandum of Understanding between the RF Federal
Agency for Fisheries and the Namibian Ministry for Fisheries and Mineral
Resources, a Memorandum of Cooperation between Gazprombank and the
National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia.
On Friday Medvedev will arrive in Angola. He will lay a wreath at the
monument to Angola's First President Antonio Agostinho Neto who is
reckoned the country's national hero. Then Medvedev will go to the
presidential palace for talks with President Jose Eduardo dos Santos.
Presidential Protocol in Angola has its specificity. Therefore the
meeting will be held at first in a broader format and then the leaders
will have a one-on-one conversation. As a result of consultations the
sides will sign a package of documents such as, in particular, a Joint
Communique of the Presidents, a 2009-'13 medium-term programme for
economic, scientific, technical and trade cooperation, an agreement on
mutual encouragement and protection of capital investments, regulations
for an intergovernmental committee on military-technical cooperation, a
number of memoranda on cooperation in the field of education, including
that through the Russian Peoples' Friendship University, as well as a
package of contracts under a project between Zarubezhneft foreign-trading
organisation and the SONANGOL petroleum company.
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