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As part of its exclusive series on Libya during the rule of late leader Moammar al-Gaddafi, Asharq Al-Awsat examines the regime’s ties with local and foreign powers, including its attempts to finance western presidential campaigns, particularly in France, the United States and Ukraine. Witnesses from the former regime said that Tripoli had spent some 50 million euros in 2007 to fund the campaign of French presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy. Lebanese businessman Ziad Takeieddine, who was present at Sarkozy’s meetings with Gaddafi revealed that the “figures were much higher than that.” Tripoli also pumped 5 million dollars in the presidential campaign...

Following are excerpts from an address delivered by Sheik Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi, Chairman of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on February 21, 2011: Sheik Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi: The truth is that I do not want to say anything to Al-Qadhafi, because one should only address people who are reasonable. People who are not reasonable should not be addressed. That man is no longer reasonable. He has been crazy for a long time. Among the signs of his madness, as we have seen, he wanted to be a philosopher, and come up with theories, like Marx and...

Moammar Ghaddafi's son Seif el-Islam, heir-apparent top-dog in the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahariya, is pretending to pressure the Arab League to democratize. He's getting a lot of great press in the West (I goofed and gave him some, too), and he doesn't deserve a bit of it. This little snippet from the New York Times makes the lad sound like some kind of hero. "'Democracy is the future,' Mr. Qaddafi, 32, said at his Moroccan-style villa outside Tripoli, where he keeps a white tiger, Freddo, among other exotic pets. 'We have to be ahead of the world in...

On a visit to Paris during which he met with French President Jacques Chirac, the son of Libyan ruler Muammar Al-Qaddafi, Sayf Al-Islam Al-Qaddafi, gave an interview to the London Arabic-language daily Al-Hayat. The following are excerpts from the interview: [1] 'The Libyan People is Interested in Progress, Development, and Democracy' Question: "Do you think the problem of the UTA [2] plane [for which Libya was responsible] and the damages paid to the families of the victims has been completely resolved with Paris?" Sayf Al-Islam: "I heard personally from President Chiracthat we have solved the problem of the UTA plane,...

By MAAMOUN YOUSSEF, Associated Press Writer CAIRO, Egypt - The son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi said Wednesday Arab countries should support President Bush's campaign to promote democracy in the Middle East. Numerous Arab governments have rejected Bush's democracy initiative, notably Egypt's and Saudi Arabia's, as an imposition unsuited to Arab culture and traditions. "Instead of shouting and criticizing the American initiative, you have to bring democracy to your countries, and then there will be no need to fear America or your people," said Seif al-Islam Gadhafi. "The Arabs should either change or change will be imposed on them from...

CAIRO (AFP) - The son of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi has said the United States has committed itself to providing security for the country and that US officials will travel there soon to ascertain its needs. Seif al-Islam, in comments published Wednesday in the Saudi-owned daily Asharq al-Awsat, also said British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W. Bush would visit Libya in 2004. Islam said Washington had "committed itself to protecting us from any sort of attack" and that there had been "consultations to conclude security and military accords that would lead to joint military maneuvers in...

TRIPOLI, 2 September — Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi announced yesterday that his country’s prisons were free of political detainees except for members of Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network. “As from the date of this anniversary, Libyan prisons will be empty, with the exception of a group of heretics believed to have links with what is known as Al-Qaeda and the Taleban,” Qaddafi said. “So with the exception of the heretics, the prison will be emptied,” he said in a televised address yesterday marking the 33rd anniversary of the revolution that brought him to power. The Al-Qaeda suspects “were in Afghanistan...

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...