A little more on Gaddafi, again in sharp contrast to his status during the Bush Administration:
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/53399
Parade of Despots Heading For New York
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
By Patrick Goodenough, International Editor
(CNSNews.com) – The usual September parade of world leaders descending on New York City for the opening of the annual United Nations General Assembly will be characterized this year by the presence of some of the world’s most controversial figures.
Likely to provoke the most ire this year will be Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who plans his first visit ever to the United States at a time when his emergence from international isolation has been set back by the release of the Libyan convicted in the Lockerbie bombing. Of the 270 people killed when the New York-bound Pan Am Flight 103 was blown up after taking off from London in 1988, 189 were Americans.
Gaddafi’s plans to erect his customary Bedouin tent in the grounds of a property in New Jersey owned by the Libyan Embassy were shelved after locals protested.
But his presence will still be provocative, with families of Lockerbie victims and the American Libyan Freedom Alliance among those planning to protest.
The alliance, which says its objective is to promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Libya, said it had expressed its disappointment to U.S. and U.N. officials about the planned attendance by Gaddafi “despite all his well documented international and domestic crimes.”
Gaddafi, who on Tuesday marked the 40th anniversary of his seizure of power, is scheduled to speak after President Obama, in his capacity as chairman of the African Union.
....Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was one of the few non-African leaders to attend celebrations on Aug. 31, 2009 marking the 40th anniversary of the coup that brought Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to power....