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Anti-semitic Tirade by Qaddafi

March 24, 1981
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— Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi charged last night that “the Jews are leading the world into a third world war just as they provoked the second.” Qaddafi, interviewed on Radio Luxembourg, said that the Jews are responsible for recent wars and are trying to provoke new ones. He said that “American blind support (for Israel) could well result into a clash between the two super powers.”

The Libyan leader, whose relations with France have been strained for the last years, said Paris has lost more “than us” because of this cooling off in relations between the two countries. In spite of Franco-Libyan confrontations in the Chad, however, Qaddafi was relatively restrained in his criticism of France.

But he lashed out against the United States saying that American military bases in Oman, Egypt and Saudi Arabia “are a real threat to peace.” He also charged the U.S. with responsibility for the crisis situation, which he said, continues to prevail in the Middle East.

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