25 Sep 2009

In two interviews following his contentious address at the UN General Assembly, Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi rejects a two-state solution to the conflict in Middle East.

Qaddafi told Time magazine and Aljazeera network that he deemed that the UN Security Council's efforts for a lasting peace between Palestinians and Israel were futile.

"There is no way to have these two states so close, because they are already integrated. Two million Palestinians live in Israel, Gaza is isolated … torn apart and isolated. Israel should get rid of their nuclear weapons - the Muslim countries will not recognize Israel as long as they have nuclear weapons - and these problems would be done," he told Aljazeera.

When asked whether his 'one-state solution' could not be interpreted as opposing a Jewish state and his views on the legitimacy of such a state, Qaddafi instead talked of a worldwide 'persecution' of the Jewish people spanning history.

"I am keen and anxious for the safety of both the Jews and the Palestinians. The position that we are in, the road that the world is going on, would lead to the destruction of the Jews," Qaddafi told Time editors Romesh Ratnesar and Michael Elliott on Thursday.

"We know that they're not that big. Unfortunately, they were persecuted by all nations."

Citing the unjust persecution of Jews by the Romans and King Edward I and the Holocaust, Qaddafi said, "Once seeing the history like that we can only but sympathize with them as Jews."

"The Arabs actually were the ones who gave them the safe haven and the protection along all these areas when they were persecuted. As recent as '48 or '49…the Jews were there in Libya. There was no animosity, no hatred between us," added the leader known for his eccentric ideas and behavior.

He added that the Jews had somehow blended into the Libyan communities, "spoke Arabic, wearing Libyan uniforms, Libyan clothes."

Asked for a direct answer to the question he said, "We have to serve God, or guarantee the safety of the Jews. And this can be done by them accepting the Palestinians, recognizing the Palestinians, accepting that fact that they should live with the Palestinians in one state, together."

The leader, who assumed control following a coup in 1969, addressed the United Nations during its annual meeting for the first time on Wednesday in a 95-minute speech that broke UN protocol, and at one point ripped up a copy of the UN charter and threw it at officials.

His country assumed the rotating presidency of the UN General Assembly on September 15, giving rise to concerns in Switzerland over an outrageous motion he filed to the international body asking for the demolition of the Alpine country over recent disagreements.

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