ROME: Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has lashed out at the United States by likening the 1986 U.S. Strikes on Libya to Osama bin Laden's terror attacks on the United States in 2001. He was speaking Thursday in Rome, where he is on a three-day official visit.In a speech to Italian lawmakers, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi urged the world to understand the reasons that motivate terrorists. He called for dialogue with terrorists, saying, "One must talk to the devil, if it brings about a solution."
While condemning al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden, he implied there was little difference between bin Laden's terror attacks and the U.S. strike on Tripoli and Benghazi in 1986. He added that the West should not interfere in the governments chosen by other countries.
The United States ordered airs strikes on Tripoli and Benghazi after an attack on a disco in Germany killed three people, including two U.S. servicemen.
Gaddafi, who came to power following a 1969 coup, had long been ostracized by the West for sponsoring terrorism, but in recent years sought to emerge from his status by abandoning weapons of mass destruction and renouncing terrorism in 2003.
Libya has since agreed to pay compensation to the families of the Berlin disco victims as well as the families of the victims of the 1988 Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland that killed 270 people, including 189 Americans.
0 comments:
Post a Comment