http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8744/mqafrica.htm
Therefore, I will try to speak briefly on this occasion. First, we heartily salute our brothers the honorable Presidents who are here.
They told Libya: send us your two sons quickly and without argument.
Tripoli JANA in Arabic 1 Oct 98
Surt, 1 Oct
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 make any 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.
It 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]
Text courtesy of Libya News
