Posted on 10/28/2002 4:16:17 PM PST by Destro
Libya Still to Leave Arab League
Sat Oct 26,10:50 PM ET
By RAWYA RAGEH, Associated Press Writer
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Arab League chief Amr Moussa failed to persuade Moammar Gadhafi to reverse Libya's decision to withdraw from the league, Moussa's spokesman said Saturday.
Libya announced Thursday it was pulling out of the 22-member league, citing its "inefficiency" in dealing with the crises over Iraq and the Palestinians.
"The Libyan stance is not going to change overnight," Moussa's spokesman Hesham Youssef told The Associated Press after Moussa met Gadhafi in Tripoli.
He said the two men agreed that Moussa hold on to the request for the time being.
Gadhafi has long been critical of the league and has re-orientated Libyan foreign policy toward Africa rather than the Arab world.
In March, he condemned the resolution passed at the Arab League summit in Beirut, Lebanon, which offered Israel normal relations with Arab states in exchange for a full withdrawal from Arab territories.
Gadhafi urged Arabs in the street to distance themselves from their "crippled" governments,. and proposed an emergency summit of the league to cancel the Beirut resolution.
Gadhafi threatened to withdraw from the league in March, but was apparently persuaded to drop the idea by a visit from Moussa.
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