Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi has said in a press interview his country and the United States were exchanging intelligence information on the al-Qaeda network, but acknowledged Osama bin Laden's growing popularity in the Muslim world.
"Intelligence agencies in Libya and the US are exchanging information," Kadhafi told Newsweek magazine in an interview that will appear in Monday's edition.
"There are Libyan terrorists in America and in Britain," the Libyan leader added. "The Libyan intelligence service exchanges information so that they will be wiped out."
But Kadhafi admitted that bin Laden had become a prophet in the Islamic world and that "all the young people like him."
"Bin Laden has convinced his followers that America is attacking the whole Arab and Islamic world," the Libyan ruler said. "It is not a battle between America and bin Laden anymore. Everybody is with bin Laden."
Kadhafi added al-Qaeda would not hesitate to launch another attack on the United States if it gets the chance.
He conveyed that although he had often disagreed with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, particularly over his war with Iran, the invasion of Kuwait and the Kurdish issue, he did not believe US-led military action against Iraq was justified.
"I have never been in agreement with Saddam. But he doesn't deserve this," the Libyan leader said, adding that while Saddam Hussein might be irrational, he did not constitute a threat. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
