"We will let this panel work unhampered."Paris (ANTARA News/AFP) - Moamer Kadhafi said he wanted the United Nations or the African Union to probe the unrest rocking Libya and promised investigators free access, in an interview published Sunday.
The strongman, making his first such demand since the outbreak of violent protests against his rule and the ensuing bloody riposte, also warned that the unrest would spell disaster for Europe.
"First of all I would like that an investigatory commission of the United Nations or the African Union comes here to Libya," he told the French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche.
"We will let this panel work unhampered," he said, adding that he would be in favour of France "coordinating and leading" the probe body.
Shortly after the unrest broke out, Kadhafi`s son Saif al-Islam, long seen as a possible successor, said he wanted an independent domestic probe into the unrest.
On February 22, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Navi Pillay also called for an independent international investigation and an immediate halt to serious abuses committed by Libyan authorities.
Kadhafi underscored that the violence posing the greatest challenge to his more than four decade rule would have serious repercussions for Europe, which has been facing an uphill battle to stem clandestine immigration, especially from North Africa and Asia.
"Thousands of people from Libya will invade Europe," he said, "and there will be no-one to stop them."
Kadhafi repeated an oft-repeated charge that the revolt against his regime was being spearheaded by Al-Qaeda.
"There is an Islamic jihad facing you from the Mediterranean," he said.
(Osama) Bin Laden will install himself in North Africa... You will have Bin Laden at your gates.
"They will attack the US Sixth Fleet. There will be acts of piracy here at your gates, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) from your borders. Bin Laden`s men will demand ransom from land and sea. This will really become an international crisis."
Kadhafi also said three Dutch soldiers captured during an unauthorised rescue mission were being held prisoner and underlined that this was "normal."
The three were taken captive in Sirte in the north of Libya on Sunday in a botched attempt to evacuate two civilians, a Dutch engineer and one other European, by navy helicopter.
(Uu.H-AK/
(Uu.SYS/C/H-AK/C/H-AK) 06-03-2011 10:32:34
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