Submit your comments on this article |
Europe |
Consternation as Muammar Gaddafi seeks to pitch his tent on Nicolas SarkozyÂ’s lawn |
2007-11-27 |
That could be funny, but that's the guy who kept the bulgarian nurses hostages, had them tortured and raped, and get all he wanted out of that. And I won't mention his meddling in africa, the latest one being the ivory coast fiasco, which was yet an another debacle for France. Bankrupted and shocked french refugees from ivory coast were left to fend for themselves, with no access to the welfare and subsidies available to african migrants, and we receive this clown like that??? Colonel Muammar Gaddafi of Libya has flummoxed presidential protocol service with a request that a Bedouin tent be erected in central Paris where he can entertain guests during a visit to France next month. Libyan officials have told their French counterparts that he wants the tent put up in the grounds of the Hôtel Marigny, the 19th-century Parisian state residence used to house important foreign visitors. The protocol service is unsure how to respond, since it is unwilling to displease the volatile ruler but unsure about setting a precedent that could lead to similar demands from other heads of state. “Nothing’s been settled yet,” said a source at President Sarkozy’s Élysée Palace. "We'll give in, because we're essentially spineless whores, but we need some time to save face." Le Point, the French magazine, said that advisers to the 65-year-old Libyan leader had told Paris he wanted a tent because he suffered from a phobia brought on by being confined indoors. The Élysée Palace source said that Colonel Gaddafi “made this demand to receive his guests under his tent as is his custom and not to sleep in it.” Colonel Gaddafi, who has ruled the North African country for 38 years, greets visitors in a Bedouin tent in Libya and requested a similar installation when he travelled to Brussels for talks with the Belgian Government in 2004. A black, Saharan-style tent was erected for him in lush parkland by a lake in the grounds of the Val Duchesse château in the suburbs of the Belgian capital. Canvas in the Marigny gardens — which are a stone’s throw from the Élysée and the British Ambassador’s residence — would fuel controversy surrounding a visit designed to illustrate the return of the former pariah to the international mainstream. Dubbed the “mad dog of the Middle East” by President Reagan in the 1980s over his backing for terrorist movements, the Supreme Guide of the Libyan Revolution is now seen by Western leaders as an ally in the fight against al-Qaeda. His trip to France follows the release this summer of six foreign medical workers jailed by Tripoli since 1999 for allegedly infecting more than 400 children with HIV. Mr Sarkozy played a key role in the liberation of the five Bulgarian nurses and Palestinian doctor after sending Cécilia, his wife — they have since divorced — for talks with the Libyan strongman. A day after the medical workers were freed, Mr Sarkozy flew to Tripoli to welcome Colonel Gaddafi back into the family of nations. The meeting provoked a furious row in France when it emerged that Paris had agreed to supply Libya with nuclear technology to power a desalination plant and defence equipment, including military vehicles and air defence systems. Barf. Colonel Gaddafi’s visit to France has been confirmed privately by French government sources but has not yet been officially announced. Gaddafi's world — In his 38-year rule Colonel Gaddafi has styled himself as the leader of a pan-Arabic socialist movement and the progenitor of a United States of Africa |
Posted by:anonymous5089 |
#5 Pray for freezing rain. |
Posted by: 3dc 2007-11-27 19:21 |
#4 Be sure to manure the grounds well before he arrives. Y'know, to make it smell like home. |
Posted by: Swamp Blondie 2007-11-27 17:38 |
#3 "Non!" - Marcel Marceu, "Silent Movie" |
Posted by: mojo 2007-11-27 15:07 |
#2 A bedouin tent? Good idea. Last week we had sub-zero temperatures. Oh, and bodygaurds should not be not allowed in the tent. |
Posted by: JFM 2007-11-27 11:46 |
#1 Why not let him pitch in Villiers-le-Bel? |
Posted by: Jack is Back! 2007-11-27 08:52 |