Libyan leader Colonel Moamer Kadhafi has said he will stay away from the Islamic summit in Doha and suggested that Qatars fear of its neighbors could explain its continued links with Israel.
"Qatar is a small country which is perhaps afraid of its neighbors. It would therefore seek to rely on a force which scares the Arabs," Kadhafi said in an interview late Friday broadcast on the Arab satellite TV channel MBC.
"There is no other force than Israel and the United States to frighten the Arabs," he said, referring to Arab calls for the closure of an Israeli trade office in Doha ahead of the November 12-14 summit.
The Libyan leader said he would not attend the gathering.
"I will not be taking part in the OIC summit in Doha. The Islamic summit will be just like the Arab summit -- just ink on paper," he said, referring to the October 21-22 meeting of Arab leaders in Cairo devoted to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Tripoli recalled its ambassador from Doha in April in protest at a broadcast by the Qatar-based Al-Jazira satellite TV channel criticizing the Libyan leadership, since then Saudi Arabia has reportedly been mediating between the two Arab states – DUBAI (AFP)
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