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Lybia's President Moammar Gadhafi gestures during a meeting at his tent during the Africa and South America Summit in Porlamar, Margarita Island, Venezuela, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009. (AP / Abdel Magid Alfergany)
Moammar Gadhafi cancels Canada visit
26/09/2009 8:49:23 PM
CTV.ca News Staff
Libyan Leader Moammar Gadhafi has cancelled a trip to Canada that had been scheduled for next week, according to media reports.
Gadhafi had planned the stop-over in St. John's, N.L., on his way home from his speech to the United Nations General Assembly last Wednesday, a wide-ranging rant that lasted more than 90 minutes.
The Canadian Press says the African strongman was planning to stay in the city early next week, and local officials were prepping to put up one of the leader's famed Bedouin tents.
"We've been told this afternoon that he's not coming now," RCMP spokesman Sgt. Wayne Newell told The Canadian Press from St. John's.
"We weren't given a reason, just that he's not coming."
It is unclear if Gadhafi cancelled the trip due to pressure from Canadian officials or for other unrelated reasons.
Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon had planned to meet Gadhafi to voice Canada's disappointment over the welcome Libya extended to Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, who was released from prison on compassionate grounds despite his role in the Lockerbie bombing.
Alessandro Bruno, the deputy editor of the North Africa Journal told CTV News Channel that he believed Gadhafi cancelled the trip because of Cannon's planned rebuke.
Bruno said Gadhafi needs photo ops aimed at citizens in Africa and that Cannon's rebuke would go against the image the Libyan leader wanted to deliver.
"He needs the pomp and circumstance, something he can show to his people that he's a great respected leader," Bruno said. "Gadhafi expects to be treated like a world leader of great importance."
St. John's Mayor Dennis O'Keefe told The Canadian Press he never heard from officials whether Gadhafi was visiting or not.
"I never heard anything from Foreign Affairs up front or from the federal government initially -- absolutely not one word about his visit," he said.
He said that he wished he had been given advance notice of the situation.
"You're talking about an individual who controls a state that has financed and housed and promoted terrorism, and violations of human rights . . . I would have thought that we would have been informed when anybody (like) this individual is going to be in our city and on our streets," O'Keefe said.
While Gadhafi had taken steps to repair his international reputation, which was sullied due to his support for terrorist acts such as Lockerbie, his warm welcome to al-Megrahi sparked outrage among the international community.
In 2001, al-Megrahi was convicted by a Scottish court for his role in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which killed 270 people, including three Canadians.
The Scottish government allowed al-Megrahi to return to Libya to die after he was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer last month.
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Ghadafi changed his mind after he learned abot the Dziekanski incident.
Moammar Gadhafi cancels Canada visit
26/09/2009 8:49:23 PM
CTV.ca News Staff
Libyan Leader Moammar Gadhafi has cancelled a trip to Canada that had been scheduled for next week, according to media reports.
Gadhafi had planned the stop-over in St. John's, N.L., on his way home from his speech to the United Nations General Assembly last Wednesday, a wide-ranging rant that lasted more than 90 minutes.
The Canadian Press says the African strongman was planning to stay in the city early next week, and local officials were prepping to put up one of the leader's famed Bedouin tents.
"We've been told this afternoon that he's not coming now," RCMP spokesman Sgt. Wayne Newell told The Canadian Press from St. John's.
"We weren't given a reason, just that he's not coming."
It is unclear if Gadhafi cancelled the trip due to pressure from Canadian officials or for other unrelated reasons.
Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon had planned to meet Gadhafi to voice Canada's disappointment over the welcome Libya extended to Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, who was released from prison on compassionate grounds despite his role in the Lockerbie bombing.
Alessandro Bruno, the deputy editor of the North Africa Journal told CTV News Channel that he believed Gadhafi cancelled the trip because of Cannon's planned rebuke.
Bruno said Gadhafi needs photo ops aimed at citizens in Africa and that Cannon's rebuke would go against the image the Libyan leader wanted to deliver.
"He needs the pomp and circumstance, something he can show to his people that he's a great respected leader," Bruno said. "Gadhafi expects to be treated like a world leader of great importance."
St. John's Mayor Dennis O'Keefe told The Canadian Press he never heard from officials whether Gadhafi was visiting or not.
"I never heard anything from Foreign Affairs up front or from the federal government initially -- absolutely not one word about his visit," he said.
He said that he wished he had been given advance notice of the situation.
"You're talking about an individual who controls a state that has financed and housed and promoted terrorism, and violations of human rights . . . I would have thought that we would have been informed when anybody (like) this individual is going to be in our city and on our streets," O'Keefe said.
While Gadhafi had taken steps to repair his international reputation, which was sullied due to his support for terrorist acts such as Lockerbie, his warm welcome to al-Megrahi sparked outrage among the international community.
In 2001, al-Megrahi was convicted by a Scottish court for his role in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which killed 270 people, including three Canadians.
The Scottish government allowed al-Megrahi to return to Libya to die after he was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer last month.
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Ghadafi changed his mind after he learned abot the Dziekanski incident.
