[Via... http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ] . . ----- Original Message ----- From: Downwithcapitalism <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2001 1:11 AM Subject: [downwithcapitalism] FW: Castro in Libya Associated Press (additional material by BBC). 16 May 2001. After visit to Syria, Castro stops in Libya. TRIPOLI Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi on Wednesday took Cuban President Fidel Castro on a tour of a residential compound bombed by U.S. warplanes 15 years ago, then threw a banquet in his honor. The Cuban leader called the 1986 attack part of "a savage aggression" by the United States against the fellow socialist country. He told reporters the "greatest revolutions in history are the Libyan and Cuban revolutions." Castro, whom Libya once honored with a human rights award for crusading against the United States, arrived Wednesday from Syria as part of an extended tour of Middle Eastern and Asian countries. Cuban and Libyan flags fluttered over the road leading to the airport and along major streets in the city. Pictures of the visiting leader were plastered on the capital's walls. Gadhafi later escorted his guest to his damaged residential compound. U.S. warplanes bombed it in April 1986, killing Gadhafi's adopted daughter and 36 other people. After the tour, Castro wrote in a guest book that what he had witnessed was the result of "a savage aggression." Later, Castro was the guest of honor at a banquet that Gadhafi held at an undisclosed location. More substantive discussions are scheduled for Thursday. Castro is on a tour to strengthen ties with new and old allies in the Middle East and Asia and seek cheap supplies of energy. Castro's only other visit to Libya was in March 1977. The two socialist states share anti-U.S. sentiments and were close allies of the former Soviet Union. Libya has supported Cuba throughout a decades-old U.S. trade embargo, while the Latin American state stood by Libya during a seven-year U.N. air embargo. The sanctions were imposed to force Libya to hand over two suspects in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The embargo against Cuba remains in place, while that against Libya was suspended after it handed over the two suspects in 1999. The United States, however, has maintained unilateral sanctions against Libya, citing state support of terrorism. In 1998, Libya honored Castro with its human rights award for the "defense of his people and his steadfast stand against the imperialism that surrounds him." Castro's stop in Libya is the sixth on a tour that began May 6. The Cuban leader has stopped in Algeria, Iran, Malaysia, Qatar and Syria. Before flying to Libya on Wednesday, Castro visited parts of the Syrian capital's ancient quarter, including the Omayyad Mosque, a sprawling complex that houses a tomb believed to contain the head of St. John the Baptist. He then met President Bashar Assad for talks over lunch, according to the official Syrian Arab News Agency. Gadhafi and Castro are expected to hold wide-ranging talks, before Mr Castro flies on to Lisbon on Thursday. He will then return to Havana. SPAM TO FOLLOW Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
