Libya's leader Kadhafi claims he is telling Islamic separatists from the Philippines to Chechnya to give up the struggle and integrate with their neighbors. This new message of respectability is being carried by his most trusted ambassador, his son Seif al-Islam al-Kadhafi.
According to Kadhafi, Chechens, for instance, will be better off being part of a powerful Russia than forming a separate Caucasian state. "We told them, 'We want Muslims to be in the Russian government'."
Seif al-Islam told a meeting at London's Royal Institute for International Affairs that Muslims should learn from Jews. "Jews in America do not ask for a separate state. That's why they are stronger. They have influence in a very influential superpower. The Jewish model in America is a good model for Muslims all over the world," reported The Daily Telegraph.
Rather than trying to carve out a Palestinian state alongside Israel, Kadhafi showed a slide depicting his idea of a Jewish-Arab "Federal Republic of the Holy Land", comprising five regions and Jerusalem as a "city state".
When questioners asked if it was practical, Seif al-Islam Kadhafi said that Israel would first have to admit all of the Palestinian refugees, and then elections would be held to decide who would lead the new federated state. If Israel refused, the world should exert economic and political pressure. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
