Muammar Gaddafi Speech To United Nations Sept 23, 2009 (re-upload)

Muammar Gaddafi dominates with long speech at first visit to General Assembly
(Telegraph)

He demanded $7.77 trillion for Africa and reform of the global body, which he described as a "terrorist" organisation.

Paying his first-ever visit to the annual UN General Assembly, the Libyan leader was introduced to the audience of world leaders by the title "King of Kings" as he took the podium after US President Barack Obama.

Sporting a sand-hued tribal robe with an oversized lapel pin in the shape of Africa, Gaddafi flagrantly defied orders by the General Assembly's chair – a fellow Libyan – to speak for 15 minutes and rambled on for more than an hour.

Gadaffi, who said he was speaking "in the name of 1,000 African kingdoms," demanded compensation from the West for colonisation of the continent and provided a precise figure.

"$7.77 trillion – that is the compensation the Africans deserve from the countries that colonised Africa," he said, who briefly put on a translation headset before giving up.

"The Africans will call for that and if you don't give that amount – 7.77 trillion – the Africans will go to where you have taken these trillions. They have the right and they will bring the money back," he said.

Gadaffi also demanded fundamental changes to the United Nations, likening the General Assembly to the famed Speakers' Corner in London's Hyde Park where people of all stripes are free to vent.

He denounced the Security Council – where five nations have veto power – for its monopoly on the right to declare when matters pose a threat to international security, saying it amounted to "terrorism".

He criticised the UN for failing to prevent "65 wars since the body was founded in 1945".

"Superpowers have interests and they use the power of the United Nations to protect their interests. The Third World is terrified and being terrorised and living in fear," he said.

Gaddafi, long a pariah, has been reconciling with the West after renouncing Libya's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction in 2003.

* Libyan leader attacks UN in first speech
* Criticises veto power of nations
* Says UN has allowed 65 wars

LIBYAN leader Muammar Gaddafi, in his first ever address to the United Nations, has accused the veto-wielding powers of the Security Council of betraying the principles of the UN charter.

"The preamble (of the charter) says all nations are equal whether they are small or big," Mr Gaddafi said through an interpreter. He received a smattering of applause.

Reading from a copy of the UN charter, Mr Gaddafi said: "The veto is against the charter, we do not accept it and we do not acknowledge it."

Clad in a copper-colored robe with an emblem of Africa pinned over his chest, the Libyan leader dropped his paperback copy of the charter on the podium several times before tossing it over his shoulder.

The United States, Britain, France, Russia and China are permanent veto wielding members of the Security Council, the most powerful body within the United Nations. Libya has a temporary council seat and will be on the 15-nation panel until the end of 2010.

Veto power should be annulled," Mr Gaddafi said.

"The Security Council did not provide us with security but with terror and sanctions," he told leaders gathered for the opening day of the 192-nation General Assembly .

Mr Gaddafi, who spoke just after US President Barack Obama, said the fact that "65 wars" have broken out since the UN was established more than 60 years ago proved its founding principles had been betrayed.

Speaking about conflicts from 50s until present...

Muammar al-Gaddafi: Not a bad speech

Posted on: September 23, 2009 12:58 PM, by Greg Laden

No one will take Muammar al-Gaddafi's speech at the UN seriously because he is generally seen as a raving lunatic. And he might be. However, he made numerous valid points (not all of which I agree with). I loved the part where he threw the book over his shoulder.

Interestingly, MSNBC made the editorial commitment to showing Gaddafi's speech in its entirety, but now of course they are explaining how he's mostly a raving lunatic. No one has mentioned a single actual point that he made, which tell us that the US press is scared to give him even a small amount of recognition.

Obama's speech, given earlier, was excellent as usual, but I was struck with something not so pleasant: It was like someone showing up and explaining what the rules should be and encouraging everyone to follow those rules, but who has not followed the rules at all in 8 years. I just hope people (in other countries) will remember that this is the new guy.