Qadhafi: Arab nationalism is dead
Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi gave a hard-hitting speech against fellow-Arab countries, declaring Arab nationalism dead and gone forever.
“The times of Arab nationalism and unity are gone forever,” Qadhafi told an audience of women on Saturday at Syrte, east of Tripoli, AFP reported. “These ideas which mobilised the masses are only a worthless currency.”
The once champion of both Arab nationalism and Pan-Africanism also called on the People’s Congresses, the centre of the country’s political system, to permit Libya to withdraw from the Arab League.
Libya has been planning to leave the League for a number of months.
“Libya has had to put up with too much from the Arabs for whom it has poured forth both blood and money,” he said in his speech.
The resulting effect, Qadhafi said, was that the oil-rich country had been isolated by the US and “demonised by the West”.
Looking south
The Libyan leader reaffirmed his new-found orientation south, towards the African continent, saying he found there a source of great strength for Libya.
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“The times of Arab nationalism and unity are gone forever. These ideas which mobilised the masses are only a worthless currency” Muammar Qadhafi |
Likewise, reaffirming his faith in womanhood, Qadhafi described the gentle sex as “better and more capable than men.”
Colonel Qadhafi is protected by a team of Amazonian-like women bodyguards.
The Libyan authorities this year dedicated celebrations for the 34th anniversary of Qadhafi’s rise to power to women, paying tribute to their growing role in public life and participation in the armed forces.
Libya’s new policies are aimed at courting African rather than Arab countries, which Qadhafi has denounced as powerless to deal with the problems in Iraq and Palestine.