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| Gaddafi Says European Friends Betrayed Him | ||||
| 2011-03-15 | ||||
Gaddafi dismissed demands by world powers for a no-fly zone over Libya or the possibility of airstrikes, telling Tuesday's edition of the Italian daily Il Giornale that: "We will fight and win. A situation of that type will only serve to unite the Libyan people." In the interview, Gaddafi said the criticism of his rule from Europe, culminating in a demand by EU leaders that he leave power, had threatened ties. "I was really shocked by the attitude of my European friends," he told the newspaper. "They have damaged and endangered a series of major accords on security that were in their interests and the economic cooperation that we had." Asked about his relations with Berlusconi, previously his closest friend in Europe, he said: "I am so shocked, I feel betrayed, I don't even know what to say to Berlusconi." Until the unrest, economic ties had been blossoming. Italy, in particular had developed close links with its former colony, with which it also had agreements to block the flow of clandestine immigration from Africa. However Gaddafi said these were now under threat.
"When your government is replaced by the opposition and the same thing happens in the rest of Europe, the Libyan people will perhaps take new relations with the West into consideration," Gaddafi said. He also repeated that his government had represented a bulwark against Islamic extremism, which could now be unleashed, triggering more serious unrest in the region.
If western forces attacked Libya, he would join forces with the radical Islamists. "We will ally ourselves with al Qaeda and declare holy war," he said.
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| Posted by: |
| #4 Really? He didn't see that coming? What, he thought bugging out was only a game reserved for the Yanks? |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2011-03-15 23:11 |
| #3 The last two statements of his are as internally inconsistent as he is. Actually, they are completely consistent with his goal, which is to remain the dictator of Libya. The Islamists fighting him will turn against the West (from which they are requesting assistance) as soon as they defeat Gaddafi. It's no different, really, from the way the we assisted the Soviets during WWII (despite the fact that they made it possible for the Nazis to invade the West, because of Soviet supplies to the Germans and the Molotov Ribbentrop Non Aggression Pact), and the having the Soviets turn against us after WWII ended. The difference is that Gaddafi-ism is limited to Libya, whereas Islamism aspires to be a world-conquering phenomenon, which is why Islamism will remain the greater of two evils despite the myopic statements of a lot of Western statesmen. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2011-03-15 17:08 |
| #2 You're hardly the first Semite that happened to, Muammar. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2011-03-15 16:20 |
| #1 You have subjects, supplicants and clients, Muamar. You don't have any friends. You're a nut case. |
| Posted by: mojo 2011-03-15 16:16 |