Gadhafi blames bin Laden for Libyan uprising
Posted Feb 24, 2011 1:10 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi said, Thursday, al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden is behind the uprising in his country.
His rambling speech, which was over the telephone and broadcast on Libyan state television, lasted about 15 minutes.
Gadhafi said al-Qaeda the terror network is giving young people in Libya hallucination pills to get them to revolt.
Some Libyans are seeing the fact Gadhafi spoke over the phone as a symbol of weakness.
He said those revolting are “loyal to bin Laden … This is al-Qaeda that the whole world is fighting.”
Meanwhile, a chartered aircraft that was supposed to fly Canadians out of Libya remains on the ground in Rome, blocked by insurance concerns. Another flight, though, is still planned for Friday.
Foreign Affairs said it has the capacity to take up to 220 evacuees to Rome.
Hundreds of Canadians are among the thousands of foreigners anxious to flee Libya as the North African country becomes ever-more chaotic.
