Col. Qaddafi seeks to lead new club - Africa

If you look closely at the new uniforms of Libya's Africa Corps, there's a telling detail: The camouflage spots are shaped like maps of Africa.

It's part of Libyan leader Col. Muammar Qaddafi's newfound passion for forging a United States of Africa, which was the topic at a special Organization of Africa Unity summit here this week.

For believers, Colonel Qaddafi is aggressively rekindling an African dream that began nearly 40 years ago, using Libya's oil wealth to reverse Africa's marginal status as a continent of war-torn nations and impoverished people.

But for critics, a push for an African Union - similar to the European Union - is little more than a Qaddafi fantasy, a vehicle to bring him back onto the world stage after years of isolation. In fact, it coincides with a series of steps to end Libya's pariah status with Western nations.

"The example of the United States of America is a dream, but the example of [common market] Europe is more likely," says Ali Tureiki, Libya's head of African affairs. "Unity is not important for Libya, but for all African countries. It is a necessity for development." Issues of sovereignty - long taboo for the OAU - will have to be reviewed and borders opened up, he says.

In years past, Qaddafi has shifted between calls for Arab unity and African unity. But since Arab leaders were seen here to be reluctant to take Libya's side after the United Nations imposed sanctions in 1992, Libya stopped considering itself part of the Middle East. The Ministry of Arab Unity has been shut down.

"Qaddafi is very disappointed with the Arabs," says a Western diplomat. "He thinks they didn't do as much as the Africans. And maybe it is easier for him to have influence in Africa, with money, than among Arabs."

Qaddafi has supported African liberation movements for decades, using Libya's oil money to garner political support.

But in recent years, he has reached out to South African President Nelson Mandela, who - despite the UN sanctions on air travel to Libya - visited in 1997. And Qaddafi has tried to mediate conflicts in Congo, Sierra Leone, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Sudan. At the June 1998 OAU summit, African leaders declared that they would ignore the airline embargo.

Libya has expressed its gratitude, diplomats say, noting that African heads of state received large cash gifts for each embargo-busting visit. The UN lifted the air embargo last April, when Libya handed over two suspects for trial for the bomb blast that brought down PanAm flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988.

Libya's new foreign plans

So now Africa is at the top of Libya's foreign policy agenda. The streets of the capital Tripoli and Sirte, Qaddafi's hometown and venue for the OAU meeting, are plastered with posters that declare Africa a "paradise on earth" and Libya as the "historical gate of the African continent from time immemorial."

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