Gadhafi- No longer will Libya be a rogue state

CAIRO, Egypt -- Eager to shake off his pariah image, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi said Saturday his country is no longer a rogue state and has even detained some Islamists suspected of links with the al-Qaida terror network.

In a two-hour speech on Libyan national television, Gadhafi condemned the Sept. 11 attacks, saying: "We have never seen such a horrific and terrifying act performed in such an exhibitionist manner."

He said that Libya's policy toward the United States and Israel will now follow the line of the African Union -- a new grouping of African nations to which Libya belongs.

"Now, no one can say Libya is a rogue state. There is no Libyan policy. This is an African policy ... which represents Libya and Lesotho" alike, Gadhafi said, referring to a country at the opposite end of the African continent.

His speech marked the anniversary of the 1969 coup in which he took power.

"In the old days, they called us a rogue state. They were right in accusing us of that. In the old days, we had a revolutionary behavior ... We acted like an independent state and we put up with the consequences of our action," he said to a crowd of several thousand in the south Libyan city of Sibha.

He then disclosed that Libya had detained some Islamic fundamentalists and former fighters from Afghanistan who were thought to be connected to al-Qaida.

Gadhafi had previously said he would cooperate with the war on terrorism, but he had not spoken of detaining people linked to al-Qaida.

He said the detainees would be treated the same way the United States treats its terror suspects at its Guantanamo Bay base in Cuba.

Gadhafi condemned the Sept. 11 attacks, but also urged America and Britain to undergo "political change" toward Arabs and Muslims.

"If you Americans and Britons continue to provoke (the Muslims), you will regret it," he said in the speech, which was monitored in Cairo.

Libya acquired the reputation of a rogue for its hosting of terrorist organizations, such as that of Abu Nidal, the Palestinian militant who died of a gunshot wound in Iraq this month. It was implicated in the blowing up of an American airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988 and the bombing of a West Berlin discotheque in 1986. It remains on the U.S. State Department list of countries that support terrorism.

He said Libya would follow the African Union policy toward the United States and "the Zionist entity (Israel)." He added that some African countries had diplomatic relations with Israel and others did not.

Gadhafi is an ardent champion of the African Union -- which had its founding summit in Durban, South Africa, in July -- and is known to be vying for influence in the new organization with South African President Thabo Mbeki.

Gadhafi was one of the first to propose that African states discard the old Organization of African Unity and forge closer links in a union, which has placed greater emphasis on democracy and economic development.

He has proposed moving the headquarters of the union to Libya instead of the OAU's old home in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The proposal is expected to be discussed at a special session of the union in January.