Other Initiatives by
Muammar Al Gaddafi and the Libyan Jamahiriya
Muammar Al Gaddafi speeches - Find here a collection of speeches of brother Leader Muammar Al Gaddafi / 1969 - 2011
Col. Qadhafi Speaks About Africa
Tripoli JANA
in Arabic 0838 GMT 1 Oct 98
Surt, 1 Oct --
The brother leader of the revolution [Colonel Mu'ammar
al-Qadhdhafi] has saluted the honorable heroic brother African
leaders who have implemented the courageous African [Organization
of African Unity, OAU] decision not to abide by the unjust measures
imposed on the Great Jamahiriyah.
In a speech
delivered at a meeting to mark Loyalty Day [on 30 September], held
at the Great Halls complex in the front-line fortress town of Surt
to honor Africa, the brother leader of the revolution said that
there are two reasons for devoting this year's Loyalty Day to
honoring Africa: the first is the historic stance and the
courageous
decision made
by African leaders in Ouagadougou in favor of the Libyan people,
and the second is Libya's discovery of its identity and its
roots,
and its
decision to assume a leading role in its African continent. In his
speech, the brother leader of the revolution said:
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In the name of God. Brothers:
First of all, I regret that my turn to speak has come late at night and you and our dear guests are tired. Therefore, I will try to speak briefly on this occasion. First, we heartily salute our brothers the honorable Presidents who are here In fact, if we had invited all the African Presidents, there would have possibly been a large number of them here with you. However, we only contacted the brothers who are to stand in for the remaining African leaders. [passage omitted: leading figures from political and other organizations also present; Libyans' respect for the guests; honoring Africa on Loyalty Day for the OAU summit decision; Libya's African identity]
I have repeatedly said that the inhabitants of North Africa have Arab blood. However, this is not about analyzing blood to ascertain whether you are Hamites, Semites, Arabs, or non-Arabs. This is not a question that we want to address now, and it does not benefit us because there is Aryan blood from India to Germany but no one is looking for the Aryan race .. India is India ... Iran is Iran ... Germany is Germany ... India is Hindu. Some are Shiites and the others are Christians. There is no relationship between India and Germany, between Iran and India, or between Iran and Germany. [passage omitted: Indians, Iranians, and Germans have little in common although they are all Aryans]....
No one would
say that you are not Arabs. However, this does not makeany
difference because all Arab writers in Arab countries are saying in
their newspapers and Arab radio stations are asking: How could
al-Qadhdhafi renounce Arabs and Arabism, and how could Libya become
non-Arab? Who says Libya is non-Arab? This is a
question of stock and a question of race, the Arab race. What
shall we do with this? We are talking about something else,
which they have not been aware of until now.
Even when they
talk about it, they do not understand that it is conceivable that a
tree in Africa will not cast its shade or bear its fruit in Asia.
[passage omitted: a tree in Africa remains African]
We come from
Asia and the Arabian Peninsula, but after 5,000 years Arabs,
Berbers, and Amazighs have renounced Arabism. They are saying
that they are not Arabs, although they are of Arab origin .
Why? Because they have been away from Arabs and from the Arab
homeland for 5,000 years. [passage omitted: repeating remarks on
Libyans' African identity] You are 100 percent African, and you
would be cutting off your roots if you attempted to leave
Africa. You are originally from the Arabian Peninsula, but if
you then go to Saudi Arabia without a passport, this will not be
possible because you are foreigners and you will not be able to
enter. [passage omitted: Libyans will be treated as foreigners in
Saudi Arabia;
Hungarians
originally come from Mongolia but they have nothing to do with that
region now]
Libya is in the
middle of North Africa, not on the periphery. Its location is like
South Africa and more so. If Libya wants to avoid the evil of
enemies from outside, it will seek protection in Africa, not by
analyzing the blood of Libyans and ascertaining their Arab origin.
[passage omitted: more on Libya's geographical location] If Libya
were to
seek the
possibilities of a fortune, it has to become a partner in the
fortune of its African continent. Yes, it is rich, richer than any
other continent in the world.
Now, America is
stepping all over the world with its shoes. It is not afraid
or ashamed and has no conscience. It scares everyone, and
they fire missiles while they are drunk, and it sets the price of
bread in the world. It orders the World Bank and the IMF to set the
price of bread in Jordan. It tells them to raise it by 300
percent, and that happens.
[passage
omitted: more on US dominance over world economy]
All our
currencies collapse because the US currency is strong. What is the
reason for that? Consider the unity of blood, race, and,
even, religion; all these are lacking in America. The reason
[for US strength] is that they are people who have come from
everywhere and they have established a state, which they have
called America, exploited its
resources,
established a strong economy and communications, manufactured
missiles and satellites, established medicine, made radars,
ships,
aircraft
carriers, and nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. They
have become a fearsome power. The reason is that all those people
who came from everywhere created a single nationality and a single
identity which they have called American; their identity is
American. The United States is the product of 52 states which
have united.
If Africa is to
become stronger than the United States and the EU, because it has
the resources that would make it strong and make the African
citizen, who is now despised and regarded as a slave who could be
sold in a slave market, become a master; if Africa does what
America and
Europe are
doing; and if it became united, would a Libyan, Tunisian, Algeria,
or Moroccan say I am an Arab and linked to Iraq? How would
Iraq,
which is in
Asia, be of any use to you? Furthermore, were you of any use to
Iraq when it was attacked by 30 states? [passage omitted: more on
lack of Arab support for Iraq during the Gulf War, and for Kuwait
after the Iraqi invasion]
Were those who
met in Ouagadougou all Arabs and Muslims? Absolutely not.
They were not Arabs, Muslims, or pagans; they were Africans who
said that Libya is an African state and we will not accept that one
of our states should remain under unjust sanctions by
America. This is why Africa deserves that the Libyan people
should dedicate this day, Loyalty Day, to honor Africa and to award
the leaders -- who have implemented the Ouagadougou resolution in
spite of America and have come to Libya -- these high orders which
they deserve.
The Ouagadougou
resolution should have been issued by the Arab League before
Ouagadougou and Africa. Why was it not issued [by the Arab
League]? [passage omitted: more on lack of support by the Arab
League; Libyans prevented from flying to Mecca for pilgrimage; more
on Libya's African identity]
It would be
right if you were in the Middle East and fighting for Arab unity
from Iraq to Jordan, Syria, and Yemen. There should be
fighting to achieve Arab unity in a region such as that. [passage
omitted: more on unity of Arabs in the Middle East]
As for a state
in the middle of Africa going for unity with Iraq, which is located
in the heart of Asia; that would be a sentimental union the same as
the United Arab Republic -- with Egypt in Africa and Syria in Asia.
[passage omitted: on the failure of the United Arab Republic
experiment]
When we meet on
5 October, we will talk more about this. However, I would like to
alert my brothers who met in Ouagadougou that America and Britain
are laughing at the Ouagadougou resolutions, and they are laughing
at and discrediting Africa, and they regard us as children.
The Africans warned them and told them that if the Lockerbie issue
is not resolved by 1 September with the abolition of all the
resolutions against Libya issued by the so- called Security
Council, the Ouagadougou resolution will be
implemented.
America and
Britain made a move a day before 1 September to undermine the
Ouagadougou resolution, and they announced that they had resolved
the
problem with
Libya and accepted [the trial of Libyan suspects to be held [in] a
third country as proposed by Libya. Did not Libya say that I would
not send my children to either America or Britain as I do not have
any relations with either of them? We are in a state of war
with these two countries. Furthermore, these two countries are the
accusers and therefore they cannot also be the judge. We said
let us go to Holland, the home of the International Court of
Justice.
They did not
say we accepted a third country as Libya stated. They issued a
Security Council resolution which included an agreement between the
Netherlands and Britain and letters from Britain and America to the
UN Secretary General. A resolution written by America and
Britain without a word in it amended by the Security Council.
They wrote the resolution and submitted it to the Security Council
and hurried it to issue Resolution 1192.
When we read
the resolution, we told them, we informed the world and now, on
Africa day in honor of Africa on the occasion of Loyalty Day, we
are informing the leaders of Africa and Africa as a whole again
that, when they agreed on the Netherlands, America and Britain did
not agree on a third country at all and they still insisted on
their initial stance. The whole process is a joke against
Africa to undermine the Ouagadougou resolution, and a joke against
the Nonaligned Movement in order for it not to issue a resolution
similar to the Ouagadougou resolution. [passage omitted: the
British-Dutch agreement provides for handing over the suspects to
Britain]
We thought that
America and Britain had agreed to a third country, and then it
transpired that it is a trick and there is no third country.
You English have made an agreement with the Dutch regarding two
Libyan citizens without Libya's participation. Those are
Libyan citizens and it is imperative for Libya to be with you
in this agreement. You [Britain and the Netherlands]
are deciding the fate of the two Libyan citizens -- just the two of
you, and Libya would have no knowledge of the fate of its
sons. Last week they announced the venue of the trial.
Imagine and see the extent of the contempt and thuggery; they said
the court would be convened at an American air base in the
Netherlands. Imagine, they want the trial to be held at an
American air base in the Netherlands. What does that
mean? It means that they will be kidnapped when they arrive.
This is piracy.
What
happened to human rights?
They told
Libya: send us your two sons quickly and without
argument. Even before selling a commodity one would
insure it before sending it and keep the receipt as a
guarantee. Is there anyone out there who would send a
commodity as soon as a buyer asks for it without first seeking
guarantees? What if anything happens to it in transit? But
look at the American rationale, the rationale of scheming and the
rationale of the cowboy: Take it or leave it, we do not need a
third country. You said a third country; we said a third country; a
third country -- after the third country, they said we are going to
Britain.
OK. They
are laughing at Africa. We, therefore, stress that the
Ouagadougou resolution should be put into effect as from 1
September, as no change has happened in the US and British stances
so far.
Yet it is only
when the world discovered the trick and felt provoked and
stultified by the United States and Britain, when Africa and the
Nonaligned Movement also felt stultified, that they might change
their minds in the face of international pressure. [passage
omitted: recalling African leaders' stance to break the embargo,
criticizing Arab defeatism]
Does jihad mean
the cutting of the throats of Muslim children and women? Is
this the missing jihad, the missing duty? I did not know that
we missed killing children and sticking their heads on polls in the
name of Islam. How come that this is the missing jihad?
The jihad to kill Muslim children and women, disembowel women and
hang their bodies on trees like in Algeria and in Egypt. This
is not jihad. The true jihad is what has happened in
Ouagadougou. This jihad had indeed solved the crisis between
France and Libya, and the crisis is on its way to being solved
legally. It is only then that the Libyans will be found
innocent or guilty. It is an entirely criminal and legal
matter, but the main issue is that the judge had first made his
investigations, then he came to Libya, where he made further
investigations, transferred the case to the prosecution and then to
the court, which sentenced the Libyans in absentia. This is
not relevant if they are found guilty or not.
Who was behind
all this work? It was the president of a poor African country
who did not seek rewards or praise, namely Idriss Deby. Maybe
he does not want me to mention it, because he played his role out
of modesty. Meanwhile those with whom you share sentiments do not
dare to talk about Libya with the US President. They cannot because
Libya, in the US view, is a terrorist, revolutionary, dangerous
country, which threatens US interests in the world and, therefore,
should be hit by nuclear bombs.
How dare
anybody just mention such a country to the US President, or tell
him that Libya is suffering from injustice, or lift the
sanctions? They simply cannot. [passage omitted:
praising Ouagadougou resolution]
Here they
are, the African leaders, burning the midnight oil. We have
been discussing the Great Lakes and the Horn of Africa and how to
resolve the conflicts in these areas. We hope to reach an
agreement with brother [Ugandan President Yoweri] Museveni to put
together an African force to replace the Ugandan and Rwandan forces
in the [Democratic Republic of]Congo in order to prevent massacres
and problems in eastern Congo.
Libyans: They
stood by you. I know the honorable leaders of Islamic
movements and they all stand by you. They are your soldiers.
[passage omitted: Non-Muslims also support Libyans]
Yesterday I
contacted many African leaders, other than those who are
here. I contacted them in view of today being Africa
day. I spoke to Mwalimu Nyerere and Mandela tonight, and they
send their greetings and congratulate you on this
anniversary. They all feel that Libya is truly rediscovering
itself. As President Museveni said, Libya has
rediscovered
itself.
You learn about the challenges from ordeals, and this battle has
taught us where we stand and who supports us. [passage omitted:
unity of Africa]
If they are inclined toward peace, then you must also ... If God shows America and Britain the way and they resort to peace, then we will resort to peace in the Lockerbie issue. But if on the basis of the agreement between the Netherlands and Britain, they are looking to see who would go to them... [sentence incomplete]." I wish the Arabs who are in Asia and Muslims as a whole would learn compassion, selflessness, ardor, and dedication to a cause from the leaders of Africa. [passage omitted: More comparison between Arab and African leaders]