September 4, 2009 | 6:49
am
Libyan leader Moammar
Kadafi’s first trip to the United Nations is not going as smoothly as planned.
Qaddafi, who is to address the United Nations in New York later this month, originally counted on staying in an Englewood, N.J., estate owned by the Libyan government until protests by residents and New Jersey politicians dissuaded the Libyan delegation.
After the U.S. Secret Service met with Englewood police to discuss security arrangements, there was wide public outcry against Kadafi's visit, exacerbated by the release of Abdel Basset Ali Megrahi, who was convicted in connection with the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing. Thirty-eight of the victims called the Garden State home.
New Jersey Gov. John Corzine put it bluntly:
"Kadafi is not welcome in New Jersey.... I am angry, like every other New Jerseyan and every other American, about the release of Abdel Beset al-Megrahi."
November 11, 2008 | 7:06
am
The daily Arab-language newspaper Asharq al-Awsat is reporting that the riots and fighting in southeastern Libya that began last week and left at least 11 people dead has spread to the country's second-largest city, Benghazi.
According to the report, which cites opposition groups and anonymous individuals inside Libya, the fighting between the Tabu tribe and security forces that began in the cluster of oasis towns near Kufrah, "is spreading to other nearby cities despite all the security measures the government is imposing."
A group of men engaged in street battles with police in the cities of al-Salmani and al-Majuri in support of Kufrah residents, the Nov. 10 report said.
A letter distributed by an opposition group said that some opponents of Libyan leader Muammar Kadafi are preparing "to launch a series of public demonstrations."
This is all hard to confirm. A report in the Media Line describes the challenge succinctly:
The reports are hard to authenticate because of the closed and secretive nature of the Libyan regime. Reports of the clashes have largely been leaked by bloggers and opposition groups.
September 23, 2008 | 7:58
am
The fate of 11 Europeans and eight Egyptians kidnapped by masked bandits is unfolding amid sharp rocks and painted caves in a Sahara desert that is at once sparsely majestic and disorientating -- much like the information released about the hostages by the Egyptian government.
In a confusing swirl of developments in recent days, the tourists were reported kidnapped, then freed, then not freed. The latest is that the German government is negotiating to release five Germans, five Italians, one Romanian and eight Egyptians who were snatched Friday near Gilf Al-Kebir in remote southwest Egypt.
“The location of the kidnappers has been pinpointed. It’s a no-man’s land between the Sudan, Libya and Egypt borders,” Boutros Sadiq, Sudan’s undersecretary of foreign affairs told journalists Tuesday. “We are not going to have an operation that harms the tourists.”
September 1, 2008 | 9:24
am
Is Italy really trying to clear its conscience for its colonial past? Last weekend, the Italian government made a generous offer to Libya to redeem itself for decades of military occupation.
According to the terms of a "friendship and cooperation" deal sealed Saturday between the European country and the oil-rich North African nation, Italy will invest $200 million a year during the next 25 years in infrastructure projects in Libya. The deal also calls for student grants and pensions for Libyan soldiers who served alongside Italians during World War II.
Other European nations with colonial pasts, including France, Britain and the Netherlands, carry out developmental projects in African and Asian countries they once colonized.
But Italy made a point of framing its assistance to Libya as an apology for colonizing the country in the 1930s before it won its independence in 1951.
As he signed the accord, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi told reporters during a visit Saturday to the second-largest Libyan city, Benghazi:
This agreement should put an end to 40 years of discord. It is a concrete and moral acknowledgment of the damage inflicted on Libya by Italy during the colonial era.
August 6, 2008 | 10:52
am
From the man who gave up his own nuclear ambitions to the West came a rebuke of Iran for refusing to bow to international pressure.
Libyan leader Col. Moammar Kadafi described as “arrogance” Iran’s turning a deaf ear to a pack of incentives offered by the West in exchange for shutting down critical parts of its nuclear program.
Kadafi went on to warn the Islamic Republic that it may face the same military humiliation as Iraq.
He said during a visit to neighboring Tunisia on Tuesday:
What Iran is doing stems simply from arrogance. ... In the event of a decision against Iran, this country will suffer the same outcome as Iraq. ... Iran is not any stronger than Iraq and won't have the means to resist (a military attack) on its own. ... The challenges are greater and exceed Iran's ability to reply.
