Saif Ghaddafi: «I can be everything except Libya's leader.»

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afrol News, 16 August - Saif Ghaddafi, the son of Libya's leader Muammar Ghaddafi and one of the country's prominent faces abroad, says that while he supports opening up Libya to Westerners, the country does not need democracy lessons from the United States. He further dismisses speculations of him being heir to Libya's leadership.

Saif Ghaddafi, often referred to as Ghaddafi Jr, made these statements in an interview with Danielle Pergament of the US "men's general-interest magazine" 'GQ', which is to be published on 24 August.

- We don't need Mr Bush to teach us a lesson in democracy, Mr Ghaddafi says in the interview. "We are not the students, and America is not the teacher," he adds, regarding the stated plans by the US administration of President George Bush Jr to teach Arab countries American values of democracy. This US scheme lost much of its credibility after the prisoners' ill treatment scandals in Iraq, Guantánamo and Afghanistan.

Ghaddafi Jr however makes no secret that he is "very enthusiastic to have cooperation with the rest of the world, to bring democratic standards to the Middle East, because sometimes we need to impose something on our countries from a global level." Ghaddafi Senior has often used his handsome and modern-appearing son as a door-opener in negotiations with Western countries.

The focus on Saif Ghaddafi abroad has been so great during the last few year that speculations has flourished regarding a plan to introduce him as a heir to the Libyan leadership. "I can be everything except the leader," he however tells 'GQ', adding that he is not the heir apparent and that "this position cannot be inherited. It cannot be passed from father to son."

He has however been marked by growing up as the son of Libya's leader, who until recently was a considered a pariah in the international community. "Sometimes it was very dangerous" growing up, Ghaddafi Jr explains. "Don't forget that one day my house was bombed by Americans when I was there. I was just 14. It was not a very pleasant experience for me."

This experience did not leave him with durable hatred against the US and the West. Saif Ghaddafi studied in Europe and looks every bit European in style and culture. He was the natural choice for his father when Libya started negotiating over compensations for the victims of his terrorist attacks on a Berlin discotheque, a US airliner bombed over Lockerbie and a French airliner shot down over Niger.

The negotiations are concluded and Libya successfully has avoided recognising guilt. "Legally, there is a big difference between paying compensation and being guilty," Ghaddafi Jr explains. As part of the settlement that took "years and years" to draft, the final payment will be paid to families when Libya is removed from the state-sponsored-terrorism list.

But being the West's favourite among Libyans has not made Ghaddafi Jr lose his region's scepticism against US Middle East policies. "America has to adopt a neutral and constructive policy in Palestine. Either don't touch it or be constructive, like Clinton. I think Bush was right at the beginning of his presidency, when he was neutral."

- Then he changed his mind, Saif Ghaddafi says. "And he's now supporting Israel without any limits, which is a big mistake. If the Americans can solve the problem in Iraq and play a constructive [role] in Palestine, I'm sure big change will happen," regarding the current anti-American sentiments of the Arab world.

He is far from optimistic about the prospects of peace in the Middle East. "Zero. And I think for the next two years, there will be no progress in the peace process because Israel is a crazy government. Nobody can make a peace deal with those people. They're destroying houses and uprooting olive trees. You cannot make peace with people who are destroying and uprooting olive trees, which are the symbol of peace."

While the Libyan leader's son plays down his personal political ambitions in the interview with 'GQ', he nevertheless reveals that he has a clear vision on Libya's future. "Libya [in forty years] should be a part of the African Union, part of the United States of Africa, the whole continent one nation," he says.

- And Libya should be a state, like California, the Golden State, he adds. "Why not? We should be the Golden State in Africa, we should be integrated with the rest of the Mediterranean countries," he says, cautiously adding: "This is the dream of my father. To be the Golden State and the bridge at the same time - two in one."

By staff writer

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