Gaddafi calls for Arab political, economic unity
North Africa Region, Politics, 8/18/1997

Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi ended the five-nation African Summit meeting in Tripoli to discuss closer ties in the region by saying that the five countries bordering the Sahara form a regional group. He also said that his country would open its ports to the four countries, giving them access to the Mediterranean.

Gaddafi has also called on Arabs to establish political, military and economic unity.

In a speech made during a graduation celebration for a number of officers and armed cadres on August 16, in the presence of the president of Niger, Chad, Mali and Borkina Fasso, Gaddafi praised the heroic acts of the Lebanese national resistance men in South Lebanon and the Palestinian resistance in the occupied Arab land.

Gaddafi condemned Israel's anti-Arab practices, and its indifference to international laws and conventions. He stated that Israel's main goal is to damage the Arab nation and humiliate its dignity.

Gaddafi said, "How could the Jews, who lived in different countries for thousands of years, have the right to return to occupied Palestine while the Arabs, who were expelled from Palestine only decades ago couldn't have the right to return to their home and land in Palestine?"

Also at the African Summit, leaders from Niger, Chad, Mali, Borkina Fasso and Libya decided to consolidate social and economic relations among their countries, and to cooperate to achieve the social, political and economic stability.

In the final statement of the five-way summit, which was held in Tripoli, the leaders stressed the necessity of interaction and cooperation for finding suitable solutions to the African political situation.

They also called on the international community to back measures for finding a just and final solution for the dispute between Libya and a number of Western countries on the Lockerbie case.

Previous Stories:
  Libya and Egypt discuss security cooperation   (8/15/1997)
  United Kingdom: No change in Lockerbie stance   (8/14/1997)
  AL supports Libya¹s pan-Arab summit call   (7/21/1997)

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