Marklacovia
21-02-2007, 22:52
Canada quietly makes contact with Libya Senators sign agreement with Gadhafi calling for closer ties between countries
BILL CURRY OTTAWA Deep in the Libyan desert, four Canadian senators sat around a bonfire last week chatting global politics with their host, Moammar Gadhafi.
The former international pariah regularly ordered his officials to toss another log on the fire as he outlined his plans for improved relations with Canada.
The unusual and unpublicized meeting marked the first official contact between the two countries since Stephen Harper's Conservative government took office a little over a year ago.
The Conservative Speaker of the Senate, Noel Kinsella, led the Canadian delegation, which also included Liberal David Smith, Progressive Conservative Nancy Ruth and Independent Marcel Prud'homme.
After two days of meetings with Libyan cabinet ministers and parliamentarians in Tripoli, the senators were driven by motorcade three hours outside of the capital. When the road ended, they switched to jeeps and slowly crossed the desert after dark.
"You're just out in the middle of nowhere," Mr. Smith recalled.
"You then come over this hill and there's just a couple of trees -- it wasn't exactly an oasis -- a bonfire and a tent. And sitting in the tent was 'the leader' as he is always referred to." The senators, who were accompanied by Canada's ambassador to Libya and Alhussein Elzawawi, Libya's deputy chief of mission in Ottawa, chatted for two hours and ultimately signed an agreement with Colonel Gadhafi calling for closer ties between the two countries. The agreement called for more frequent visits between Canadian and Libyan politicians and private-sector exchanges of officials working in areas such as oil, agriculture and ports.
"I've been on dozens of these things going back to when I was an MP 25 years ago, and this was as fascinating as any," Mr. Smith said.
Libya has been eagerly seeking to improve its relations with the West since 2003, when the North African nation renounced terrorism, accepted responsibility for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, and paid $2.7-billion in compensation to the victims' families.
Former prime minister Paul Martin had a brief visit with Col.
Gaddafi in December of 2004 en route to a family holiday in Morocco.
The Libyan leader's son, Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, visited Canada a year later, meeting briefing with Mr. Martin and then-foreign-affairs minister Pierre Pettigrew.
The Senate Speaker's Office said last week's three-day visit was purely parliamentary and did not represent the Canadian government.
A spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay stressed the same point.
"This is a parliament to parliament trip," Dan Dugas said.
In an interview at the Libyan embassy in Ottawa, Mr. Elzawawi said Libya had invited the Canadian Parliament to send a delegation for a visit and the Senate Speaker responded.
"We are very seriously looking to improve our relationship between our two countries," he said. "This was a very successful visit." Col. Gadhafi greets visitors in a tent far from government offices because he wants to display his ties to the common people, Mr. Elzawawi said.
"He has always been close to nature and he's not the kind of person who enjoys staying in closed doors in palaces or villas," he said.
Mr. Prud'homme, who has long advocated the pursuit of closer communication with Arab leaders regardless of whether they are on the outs with the Western world, said Canada is missing out on an opportunity.
Britain and the United States have rushed over the past three years to capitalize on the Libyan market, the senator said.
"Sadly, as usual, we always come late," he said yesterday.
"The British are there massively sending delegation after delegation after delegation, but for reasons that are typically Canadian, our business community is very slow and our political level."
This is only of interest to my fellow Canadians,so the rest of you can just ignore it.
I just came across this article yesterday,can't post a link because i got it via email,but it was published in a Toronto newspaper.
I don't know what to make of it,this kind of governmental cloak and dagger,quiet diplomacy,trying to normalize relations and foster trade,don't get me wrong, i like what they're trying to do,i think? it just seems so uncanadian,;) Opinions please
I'm not sure what to make o
BILL CURRY OTTAWA Deep in the Libyan desert, four Canadian senators sat around a bonfire last week chatting global politics with their host, Moammar Gadhafi.
The former international pariah regularly ordered his officials to toss another log on the fire as he outlined his plans for improved relations with Canada.
The unusual and unpublicized meeting marked the first official contact between the two countries since Stephen Harper's Conservative government took office a little over a year ago.
The Conservative Speaker of the Senate, Noel Kinsella, led the Canadian delegation, which also included Liberal David Smith, Progressive Conservative Nancy Ruth and Independent Marcel Prud'homme.
After two days of meetings with Libyan cabinet ministers and parliamentarians in Tripoli, the senators were driven by motorcade three hours outside of the capital. When the road ended, they switched to jeeps and slowly crossed the desert after dark.
"You're just out in the middle of nowhere," Mr. Smith recalled.
"You then come over this hill and there's just a couple of trees -- it wasn't exactly an oasis -- a bonfire and a tent. And sitting in the tent was 'the leader' as he is always referred to." The senators, who were accompanied by Canada's ambassador to Libya and Alhussein Elzawawi, Libya's deputy chief of mission in Ottawa, chatted for two hours and ultimately signed an agreement with Colonel Gadhafi calling for closer ties between the two countries. The agreement called for more frequent visits between Canadian and Libyan politicians and private-sector exchanges of officials working in areas such as oil, agriculture and ports.
"I've been on dozens of these things going back to when I was an MP 25 years ago, and this was as fascinating as any," Mr. Smith said.
Libya has been eagerly seeking to improve its relations with the West since 2003, when the North African nation renounced terrorism, accepted responsibility for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, and paid $2.7-billion in compensation to the victims' families.
Former prime minister Paul Martin had a brief visit with Col.
Gaddafi in December of 2004 en route to a family holiday in Morocco.
The Libyan leader's son, Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, visited Canada a year later, meeting briefing with Mr. Martin and then-foreign-affairs minister Pierre Pettigrew.
The Senate Speaker's Office said last week's three-day visit was purely parliamentary and did not represent the Canadian government.
A spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay stressed the same point.
"This is a parliament to parliament trip," Dan Dugas said.
In an interview at the Libyan embassy in Ottawa, Mr. Elzawawi said Libya had invited the Canadian Parliament to send a delegation for a visit and the Senate Speaker responded.
"We are very seriously looking to improve our relationship between our two countries," he said. "This was a very successful visit." Col. Gadhafi greets visitors in a tent far from government offices because he wants to display his ties to the common people, Mr. Elzawawi said.
"He has always been close to nature and he's not the kind of person who enjoys staying in closed doors in palaces or villas," he said.
Mr. Prud'homme, who has long advocated the pursuit of closer communication with Arab leaders regardless of whether they are on the outs with the Western world, said Canada is missing out on an opportunity.
Britain and the United States have rushed over the past three years to capitalize on the Libyan market, the senator said.
"Sadly, as usual, we always come late," he said yesterday.
"The British are there massively sending delegation after delegation after delegation, but for reasons that are typically Canadian, our business community is very slow and our political level."
This is only of interest to my fellow Canadians,so the rest of you can just ignore it.
I just came across this article yesterday,can't post a link because i got it via email,but it was published in a Toronto newspaper.
I don't know what to make of it,this kind of governmental cloak and dagger,quiet diplomacy,trying to normalize relations and foster trade,don't get me wrong, i like what they're trying to do,i think? it just seems so uncanadian,;) Opinions please
I'm not sure what to make o