Sirte (Libya): Libyan leader Moamer
Kadhafi has urged global support for the "peaceful" policies
of "wise" US President Barack Obama in his pursuit of a world
without nuclear weapons.
"I appeal to everyone to give Obama time and to
support his policies, as long as his programme remains
peaceful," Kadhafi told a gathering late yesterday in a huge
tent erected in the desert near the eastern coastal city of
Sirte.
He was speaking during commemorations marking the
anniversary of the bombing by American planes on April 15,
1986 of Tripoli and the eastern city of Benghazi which killed
41 people, including Kadhafi`s adoptive daughter.
Then president Ronald Reagan ordered the raids in
retaliation for the bombing blamed on Libyan agents of a
Berlin disco in which a US serviceman was among three people
killed.
"We have confidence in our son Baraka ("chance" in
Arabic) Obama and, if he continues his wise and peaceful
policies, we will help and support him so that
they succeed," Kadhafi, dressed in white suit and black shirt,
told the crowd of around 1,000 people.
At the same time, the Libyan leader urged Washington
to change its policies towards the Palestinians so as to
garner support in the Arab world, saying "the Arabs hate the
United States" because of its support for Israel.
He said Obama "should abandon his naive solution" to
the Middle East conflict through his support for international
peace efforts which aim to create two separate states -- one
for Israelis and one for Palestinians.
Such a solution, Kadhafi said, has "no chance of
succeeding."
Instead he proposed the creation of a single
democratic state for Israelis and Palestinians -- an idea he
floated before the UN General Assembly last September.
US-Libyan ties have been improving since 2003, when
Kadhafi renounced the pursuit of weapons of mass destruction
and agreed to compensate families of the victims of the 1988
plane bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland.
The lifting of US sanctions in 2004 paved the way for
US oil companies to return to Libya after being absent since
1986.
PTI
