Israeli peace activist Abie Nathan visited Libya this week, but failed to meet with Moammar Gadhafi after being told that the Libyan leader had a sore throat.
Nathan visited Libya on the understanding that he would be granted an interview by Gadhafi, but left Tripoli on Tuesday with only verbal replies to his written questions, passed on to him by Gadhafi’s aide.
In telephone interviews from Libya, Nathan said he had no reason to doubt the explanation that Gadhafi could not see him because of a sore throat which prevented him from talking.
Nathan left Libya for Tunisia after a short visit to the island of Djerba, where there was once a large Jewish population.
He said Gadhafi had assured him, in his replies, that he had no objections to a peace settlement in the Middle East and would support any agreement reached between Israel and the Palestinians.
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