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U.S. Anti-Terror Campaign Turns into Terrorism: Kadhafi
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Mubarak (L) laughs as he welcomes Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi on his arrival at the presidential palace in Cairo on July 21.
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CAIRO,
July 23 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Libyan leader Moamer
Kadhafi slammed as "insane" Tuesday, July 23, U.S. threats
of military action against Iraq, warning they were reducing the
worldwide anti-terror campaign to sheer "terrorism".
"What
connection is there between Iraq and the Al-Qaeda network or the
terrorism of Osama Bin Laden?" Colonel Kadhafi asked a news
conference in Cairo, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
"The
world is now living in terror and the fight against terrorism has
itself been transformed into terrorism," he said.
"Everything
is now permissible, something which will lead not to a reduction in
terrorism but an escalation."
U.S.
threats against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein were "illogical,
unjustified and unacceptable to the entire world.
"They
are nothing more than a demonstration of brute force," Kadhafi
said.
The
Libyan leader mocked criticism by some U.S. Congressmen of the role of
Saudi nationals in Al-Qaeda, asking whether Washington now planned to
extend its anti-terror campaign to the Islamic holy places of Mecca
and Medina, which are in the kingdom, AFP said.
"We
used to believe the United States, but now we see Congress talking
about dividing Saudi Arabia up into cantons, dominating it, closing
its mosques and religious schools and challenging its role ... in what
they call terrorism," Kadhafi said.
"And
all this because of Saudi Arabia's consistent support for mosques and
charitable associations.
"Using
that argument, the Americans could try to intervene in the pilgrimage,
prayer and other Islamic rituals," he joked.
The
Libyan leader has been in Cairo since Sunday, July 21, for talks with
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
The
two leaders held talks on the Middle East crisis and the situation in
southern Sudan.
They
discussed "the situation in the Palestinian territories, notably
contacts undertaken by Egypt to face the escalation, as well as Arab
affairs including the situation in southern Sudan."
Egypt
and Libya have since 1999 co-sponsored a peace initiative aimed at
maintaining Sudan's unity.
Libya's
Minister of African Unity, Ali Abdel Salam Triki, and the head of the
intelligence service, Ahmed Kaddaf al-Dam, were in Kadhafi's
delegation which travelled to Cairo, AFP reported.
Mubarak
telephoned Kadhafi on Saturday, July 20, to invite him to attend
festivities to mark the 50th anniversary of the July 23, 1952
revolution. Their last summit took place in Tripoli on April 28.
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