Turajonzoda: I’ve met Col Gaddafi several times

DUSHANBE, March 3, 2011, Asia-Plus -- I have met Colonel Muammar Gaddafi five or six times over the past 25 years and the Libyan leader appeared like a person who likes to admonish during conversations, known Tajik religious leader Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda said in an interview wit Asia-Plus.

According to him, he met Colonel Gaddafi mainly as member of Tajik delegation, however, there were also two or three meetings in the “one-on-one” format.

“The Libyan leader stayed in my memory as  a person who always spoke a lot during any meeting irrespective of its format and almost never listened to his interlocutors, or he didn't let them speak to be exact,” Mr. Turajonzoda noted.

“During all those meetings, Colonel Gaddafi spoke a lot about threat posed to the world by forces such as NATO or international Zionism and called on his interlocutors to be vigilant against these forces.”

“Though I met Colonel Gaddafi several times, I was not well aware of the situation in his country.  It appeared to me that the Libyan people live a good and happy life,” Tajik religious leader stressed, noting that he formed opinion about life in Libya from hotel windows and when visiting rich markets in Tripoli recommended by hotel owners.

“Therefore, I never expected that Libyan people will show their displeasure with Gaddafi’s regime in such a violent form,” said Turajonzoda, “I expected Algeria to be next after protests in Tunisia and Egypt.”

In the meantime, some international media outlets report that Muammar Gaddafi's Libyan army faced an increasingly organized and confident rebel force on Thursday which is appealing for international support and looking to take its military successes west toward Tripoli.

The violence has led to a major humanitarian crisis on the Tunisian border, with tens of thousands of foreigners, most of them Egyptian, stranded and unable to get home.  Some 75,000 people have fled to Tunisia since unrest began and 40,000 more are waiting to cross, the UN says.  The World Food Programme (WFP) announced a $38.7m aid program for the 2.7 million people it says are engulfed in the Libyan crisis.