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Gaddafi against 'big powers entry' in UNSC

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Press Trust of India United Nations (New York)

Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi has opposed the induction of big powers into the UN Security Council (UNSC), saying such a move would further tilt the balance of power.  

In his first speech to the General Assembly (GA), he said opening the doors of the UNSC for big powers would "add more poverty, more injustice, more tension at the world level".

"There would be high competition between Italy, Germany, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Philippines, Japan, Argentina, Brazil...," Gaddafi said during his over an hour-and-a-half long address.        

Stressing that there must be equality among member states, he noted that since India and Pakistan were both nuclear powers, if India had a seat then Pakistan would want one as well.  

 

"We reject having more seats," said the Libyan leader since it would give "rise to more superpowers, crush the small people."  

Gaddafi, who is also the president of the African Union, was described as "King of Kings" as he took the podium. Donned in long brown robes and a black hat, he read from hand-written notes and regularly referred to an assortment of papers.

The Libyan leader noted that Security Council reform does not mean increasing the member states. "It will just make things worse...Many big countries will be added further to the former big countries that we already have and it will be outweighed," he reasoned.  

He also added the Security Council was a "council of terror," and asked that compensation of $7.77 trillion dollars should be given to African nations for centuries of colonisation.

Calling the GA ineffectual, Gadaffi likened the world body to the Speakers' Corner in London's Hyde Park where all people can come to speak their mind.  

The head of the African Union also suggested that the swine flu was designed for military purposes, and defended the Somali pirates. "Somalis are not pirates, we are pirates," he said. "We went there, we took their economic zones, we took their fish. Libya, India, Japan, America, any country in the world...you just name it, all of us, we're all pirates," he added.

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First Published: Sep 24 2009 | 11:28 AM IST

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