 Gaddafi: 'The whole world expected a positive response, not just words'. (Reuters) |
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Gaddafi feels betrayed after WMD deal
Libyan leader Moamar Gaddafi has complained that he has not been sufficiently rewarded by the United States and Britain for agreeing to dismantle his weapons of mass destruction program.
"They promised, but we haven't seen anything yet," Mr Gaddafi said in an interview with Time magazine.
"Libya and the whole world expected a positive response, not just words, although they were nice words, from America and Europe," he said.
"[British Prime Minister Tony] Blair and [US President George W] Bush expressed their satisfaction.
"But there must be at least a declaration of a program like the Marshall Plan, to show the world that those who wish to abandon the nuclear weapon program will be helped," he added.
In the interview conducted in Tripoli, Mr Gaddafi also denied allegations that Libya had been involved in a plot to assassinate Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz.
"We have a good relationship with Saudi Arabia," he told Time. "My personal relationship with Prince Abdullah is a good one.
"This is a fabricated case, an intentionally destructive thing. We see America paying so much attention to [Abdullah], as if he were its citizen.
"They have not learned from the past. The list of accusations against Libya is very long. They all proved false. We are still in a vicious circle.
"Accusing Libya of being a country that sponsors terrorism is a very dangerous thing," the Libyan leader added.
"That has psychological repercussions. Libya could argue, 'Since I am still on the terrorist list, why not commit terrorism, which I am accused of anyway. Why should I pay the price without getting something in return?'"
Mr Gaddafi said Libya had agreed to renounce weapons of mass destruction because "we started to ask ourselves, 'By manufacturing nuclear weapons, against whom are we going to use them?'"
"World alliances have changed. We had no target," he said. "And then we started thinking about the cost. If someone attacks you and you use a nuclear bomb, you are in effect using it against yourself."
Asked whether the 1988 bombing of a Pan American jumbo jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, for which Libya has accepted legal responsibility, had been a Libyan "mistake," the Libyan leader replied: "Until now the perpetrators are unknown."
Mr Gaddafi was also asked about the possibility of holding Western-style elections in his country.
"What for?" he replied. "Libyans are in paradise."
