Soccer-mad Gaddafi sees an opening

For years he has been left out in the cold, the leader of a pariah state shunned by the international community. But now Muammar Gaddafi seems intent on speeding up his rehabilitation, not only through the slow diplomatic channels but also via soccer.

After buying a share in the Italian giant, Juventus, earlier this year the Libyan leader is about to take over the financially struggling Greek first division team, PAOK Salonika.

Libyan officials say Colonel Gaddafi's love of soccer - his son Al-Saadi is an international who once dreamt of playing for Manchester United - is the main reason for ploughing money into the game. But they admit a desire to attract good publicity, which might help Libya win back its reputation, is also important.

A Libyan official said on Thursday: "Libya wants to play her part in the international arena and show that she's not like people think about terrorism and all that."

Soccer is huge in Libya: games between the biggest teams can attract crowds of 100,000.

In January it emerged that the Libyan Arab Foreign Investment Company, of which Al-Saadi is the public face, took advantage of financial problems at Juventus's owners, the car giant Fiat, and bought a 5 per cent stake in the club for about $US21 million ($38 million).

Soon after the deal was announced, Al-Saadi, who is president of the Libyan team Al-Ittihad, trained with Juventus.

Over the past few weeks the fans of PAOK have been urging Colonel Gaddafi to rescue their club. A senior PAOK official confirmed on Thursday that negotiations were under way.

But Colonel Gaddafi's plans are not likely to stop if the PAOK deal goes through. South Africa is seen by many experts as favourite to host the World Cup in 2010, but Colonel Gaddafi sees Libya as a genuine alternative.

Libya is probably being too optimistic. Even so, there is no doubt the country is gradually being brought back in from the cold.

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