Gaddafi: Saddam out, Osama in
2004-04-15 11:14
Tripoli - The fall of Saddam Hussein has allowed terrorism, and notably Islamic extremism like that of Osama bin Laden, to flourish in Iraq, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said, describing terror as a threat to the security of the whole world.
"Saddam's fall has not brought terrorism to an end," Gaddafi said in a televised speech on Wednesday.
"Far from it: it has found a bigger opportunity to flourish," he said, addressing an audience of Libyan police officers.
"The Al-Qaeda network did not exist before in Iraq, and now it is there, along with the renegades," said Gaddafi.
Al-Qaeda is bin Laden's underground extremist network, and the term "renegades" is used by Gaddafi to refer to Islamic extremists in general.
"They are fighting there (in Iraq) today; they are happy to be falling as martyrs before US and British soldiers, and want the front to broaden to Iran and Syria, to arrive in Palestine," the Libyan leader added.
Gaddafi, who last December announced that his country was giving up "weapons of mass destruction," called for terrorism to be combated throughout the world.
"The security of the whole world is threatened," he said.