BlogCatalog
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Gaddafi blasts big powers at UN
LIBYAN leader Muammar Gaddafi had a lot to gripe about. He was jet-lagged. There was no comfortable place to pitch his tent. Some of the diplomats on the floor of the UN General Assembly were distracted.
''Please pay attention!'' he said at one point during his 96-minute speech, his first to the General Assembly in his 40 years as a leader.
Clad in a flowing cloak with a black pin in the shape of Africa sparkling on its front, Mr Gaddafi did not mention the release of convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi from a Scottish prison last month. His speech veered from harsh denunciations of the invasion of Iraq - the ''mother of all evils'' - to praise for Barack Obama.
His rambling address not only threw the General Assembly's schedule into disarray - he had been allowed 15 minutes - but took in an attempt to tear up a copy of the UN charter, talk of reparations for colonialism and even the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
''I'm jet-lagged,'' he said, complaining he had been awake since 4am and demanding the UN be moved out of the United States, whose security measures were like ''being a prisoner in the Guantanamo camp, where there is no free movement''.
This was presumably a reference to his experiences in Bedford, New York, where he had planned to pitch a large tent for the duration of the General Assembly. After a day of protest by residents, rabbis, human rights groups and families of Lockerbie bombing victims, many waving signs calling him a ''murderer'', the Gaddafi team literally packed their tent after receiving a stop-work order.
It had been on land owned by billionaire Donald Trump and leased to the United Arab Emirates. Mr Gaddafi was believed to have been staying with the Libyan ambassador and planned to use the tent for functions.
Mr Obama and the US team chose not to stay for Mr Gaddafi's speech, but those who did were treated to his views on swine flu (it might have been made by the military in a lab so companies could make money on the vaccine) and to the dictator who styles himself ''King of the Kings of Africa'' calling the US President ''our son Obama''.
Bemused diplomats then heard him suggest that Israel was behind JFK's assassination, because Kennedy wanted to investigate its nuclear plant.
The only comment that seemed to draw support was his critique of the UN Security Council. While his efforts to rename it the ''terror council'' might have been viewed as over the top, the criticism that it is too narrowly based resonated with many.
Mr Gaddafi's idea that membership should be expanded to include a permanent seat for the African Union, Latin America and perhaps someone else - he suggested Australia - hit a chord. ''Maybe we can assign a permanent seat that will be given to them by rotation every six months … perhaps Japan, Australia, maybe outside any union or Australia, or any other country,'' he said.
With LOS ANGELES TIMES/routers
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=819da626-6a42-42c3-a783-924b076f019f)
''Please pay attention!'' he said at one point during his 96-minute speech, his first to the General Assembly in his 40 years as a leader.
Clad in a flowing cloak with a black pin in the shape of Africa sparkling on its front, Mr Gaddafi did not mention the release of convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi from a Scottish prison last month. His speech veered from harsh denunciations of the invasion of Iraq - the ''mother of all evils'' - to praise for Barack Obama.
His rambling address not only threw the General Assembly's schedule into disarray - he had been allowed 15 minutes - but took in an attempt to tear up a copy of the UN charter, talk of reparations for colonialism and even the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
''I'm jet-lagged,'' he said, complaining he had been awake since 4am and demanding the UN be moved out of the United States, whose security measures were like ''being a prisoner in the Guantanamo camp, where there is no free movement''.
This was presumably a reference to his experiences in Bedford, New York, where he had planned to pitch a large tent for the duration of the General Assembly. After a day of protest by residents, rabbis, human rights groups and families of Lockerbie bombing victims, many waving signs calling him a ''murderer'', the Gaddafi team literally packed their tent after receiving a stop-work order.
It had been on land owned by billionaire Donald Trump and leased to the United Arab Emirates. Mr Gaddafi was believed to have been staying with the Libyan ambassador and planned to use the tent for functions.
Mr Obama and the US team chose not to stay for Mr Gaddafi's speech, but those who did were treated to his views on swine flu (it might have been made by the military in a lab so companies could make money on the vaccine) and to the dictator who styles himself ''King of the Kings of Africa'' calling the US President ''our son Obama''.
Bemused diplomats then heard him suggest that Israel was behind JFK's assassination, because Kennedy wanted to investigate its nuclear plant.
The only comment that seemed to draw support was his critique of the UN Security Council. While his efforts to rename it the ''terror council'' might have been viewed as over the top, the criticism that it is too narrowly based resonated with many.
Mr Gaddafi's idea that membership should be expanded to include a permanent seat for the African Union, Latin America and perhaps someone else - he suggested Australia - hit a chord. ''Maybe we can assign a permanent seat that will be given to them by rotation every six months … perhaps Japan, Australia, maybe outside any union or Australia, or any other country,'' he said.
With LOS ANGELES TIMES/routers
Gaddafi's UN speech 'radical, detailed': Libyan media
The Libyan media on Thursday hailed leader Muammer Gaddafi's epic 95-minute speech at the United Nations as radical, detailed and in-depth.
The speech, which has been ridiculed elsewhere as rambling and eccentric - at one point Gaddafi demanded to know who killed president John Kennedy in 1963 - was widely praised by the Libyan domestic media.
On Wednesday night, Gaddafi spoke for nearly 100 minutes - way beyond the allotted time of 15 minutes per speaker - and attacked several UN programmes and demanded reform that would give the General Assembly sole authority.
The Libyan official news agency JANA said that through the speech, Gaddafi presented "radical solutions that can shake the structure of the UN".
The Alshames newspaper said that Gaddafi had presented a "detailed in-depth analysis of the United Nation".
"He amazed people... and gave a 100-minute of final and decisive solutions for problems that started since the first world war," wrote the paper.
During his speech, Gaddafi repeatedly singled out the UN Security Council and veto-wielding permanent members, calling that body a "terror council".
source hindustantimes
When he first arrived at the UN building in New York, Gaddafi scribbled the phrase "we are here" on his seat.
"Today, the voice of Gaddafi is heard all over the world... Today, his thoughts shook the old building of the United Nations and blow up the old minds of a world that lives in the shadows of WWII's outcomes," said the editorial of the daily al-Jamahiriya newspaper.
The editorial said: "For the first time, people throughout the world can breath after leader Muammer Gaddafi's speech in the UN."
Gaddafi said he spoke on behalf of the African Union because Libya currently holds the chairmanship of the organisation. His appearance drew protesters outside the building.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=383519cd-0da0-4192-88c5-80c8797aace3)
The speech, which has been ridiculed elsewhere as rambling and eccentric - at one point Gaddafi demanded to know who killed president John Kennedy in 1963 - was widely praised by the Libyan domestic media.
On Wednesday night, Gaddafi spoke for nearly 100 minutes - way beyond the allotted time of 15 minutes per speaker - and attacked several UN programmes and demanded reform that would give the General Assembly sole authority.
The Libyan official news agency JANA said that through the speech, Gaddafi presented "radical solutions that can shake the structure of the UN".
The Alshames newspaper said that Gaddafi had presented a "detailed in-depth analysis of the United Nation".
"He amazed people... and gave a 100-minute of final and decisive solutions for problems that started since the first world war," wrote the paper.
During his speech, Gaddafi repeatedly singled out the UN Security Council and veto-wielding permanent members, calling that body a "terror council".
source hindustantimes
When he first arrived at the UN building in New York, Gaddafi scribbled the phrase "we are here" on his seat.
"Today, the voice of Gaddafi is heard all over the world... Today, his thoughts shook the old building of the United Nations and blow up the old minds of a world that lives in the shadows of WWII's outcomes," said the editorial of the daily al-Jamahiriya newspaper.
The editorial said: "For the first time, people throughout the world can breath after leader Muammer Gaddafi's speech in the UN."
Gaddafi said he spoke on behalf of the African Union because Libya currently holds the chairmanship of the organisation. His appearance drew protesters outside the building.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)