AL-QADHDHAFI ADDRESSES INFORMATION COMMITTEE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP05-01559R000400420016-2
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 12, 2012
• Sequence Number: 16
• Publication Date: April 28, 1987
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

ADD. Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/03/12: CIA-RDP05-01559R000400420016-2 /c AL
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NORTH AFRICA Q it
AI-Qadhdhafi Addresses Information Committee
LD290148 Tripoli Television Service in Arabic
1949 GMT 28 Apr 87
[Address by Colonel Mu'ammar al-Qadhdhafi to the General
People's Committee for Information and Culture on 27 April;
place not given - recorded]
[Text] On the occasion of the month of Ramadan we stop, and it
would be better if we stop answering the obscene attacks
launched by the Arab media against the Jamahiriyah, especially
the Egyptian media, which have lost their senses and become silly
to an extent that harms Egypt and Egyptian civilization, history,
and cultural glory. Imagine an official radio belonging to the
Egyptian Government broadcasting a secret message addressed
to the Libyan people similar to gang radios. As if it were a gang
in the mountains or a jungle. A radio of thieves addressing code
words to each other: We steal the bad chicken, and we steal
the so-and so-chicken and we steal the sheep and slaughter the
cow. They give signs to each other about stealing these trivial
things. Exactly. Official radios and Egyptian Government sta-
tions are now broadcasting secret messages of gangs and thieves.
If these things continue, we will not answer them with a silly
media campaign at their level. No. It is sufficient to record them
and convey them to the international organizations of which
Egypt is a member. This will expose it completely, and the floor
will be swept with Egypt. This will lower its status before the
world, and Egypt will become a laughingstock. Its media and
cultural credibility will sink to the bottom. It would be sufficient
to record Al-Sharq al-Awsat Radio [Middle East Program - an
Egyptian radio station] or Voice of America, the so-called Voice
of the Arabs radio, which now is the Voice of America. It is
sufficient to record them and give them to the political, cultural,
and media organizations and the political institutions, such as the
ICO, OAU, Nonaligned Movement, and the United Nations.
Egypt is a member of these political institutions. However, there
are other international and regional cultural organizations to
which Egypt belongs. It is sufficient for you to record them
[Egyptian broadcasts] and give them to these organizations and
expose them. Is this an official radio that belongs to a government
and for which a state assumes responsibility? Grave things will
result from these matters. Anything could happen. Number one,
a car accident on the road: You can accuse this radio, this
government and this state of giving the secret message to kill this
person on the street. Therefore, the killing - the accident that
occurred in the street - is an intentional action whose secret
message is what was broadcast by the radio on such-and-such a
night. You can put all these things on its shoulders.
I am surprised. I did not think that the Egyptian Government -
in spite of being a defeated government that does not control itself
and is under the full control of the Zionists and Americans, and
it is unable to solve the problems of Egypt, and the Egyptian
regime will definitely end. [sentence as heard] However, I wonder
if the Egyptian Government knows what silly things its radios
broadcast. These things harm it politically and damage it. These
things will lead to future consequences, because things could
happen which Egypt will be officially and internationally held
responsible for as a result of the trivia broadcast by its radios.
I think that because of the month of Ramadan, as far as they are
concerned, it is a suggestion and a revolutionary [word indistinct],
but the meeting is being held according to the Arab and Islamic
traditions, we should not reply to these silly things during this
month, and we should give all the silly persons around us.
[sentence as heard]
We will see if they are going to review their calculations. In any
case, we have not lost anything. On the occasion of this month,
we will not indulge in the use of insults. That is one thing.
Moreover, insults in themselves are in fact not part of our morals
and they should not be present in the revolutionary media,
because those who insult are the ones who haven't any evidence
which they could use to reply or to convince the others. When it
comes to the same insult, [as heard] the situation reminds us of
what is broadcast by America's radio stations and those of the
agents who can only resort to insults. Those who draw a drisive
cartoon or use insults have no facts or any evidence to put
forward, therefore their only weapon is insults. Those who have
no weapons use insults, but those who have weapons use them to
fight. If you hear someone using insults, it means he has no other
weapon. Therefore, he resorts to insults, which also means he has
failed. We have the evidence, or we have a revolutionary program
for a radical change; if we broadcast it through our radio stations
and our publications and if we present it to the world, it will have
a serious impact. sentence as heard] The people's theory which is
against the governmental theory, is extremely dangerous and it
carries no insults. It carries historical words which are convinc-
ing, and it sums up the peoples' experiences for their liberation,
to solve the economic problem, the political problem, the social
interpretation as mentioned in the third part of the Green Book.
These words are sufficient.
As for the puppet regimes, their puppetry does not deserve any
attention; we should only mention it. It is enough just to mention
it. Maybe it is enough to quote these regimes themselves. If you
say an Arab leader has decorated the commander of the U.S. 6th
Fleet after he killed the children of the Libyan brothers, this is
enough. There is no need for insults, because they themselves are
broadcasting the news. All you have to do is to repeat it and it
will be enough. Maybe a citizen from this state has not heard it,
or a citizen from that state has not heard it. Whether from Libya
or from another state, let them hear it. Al-Ahali newspaper in
Egypt, belonging to the Unionist Rally, might be issued in the
Egyptian capital and some other areas, but it might not reach the
rest of the country. When you broadcast its news, it has nothing
to do with insults, and it is enough to broadcast this news so that
it can be heard by Egyptians who have not heard it yet. Thus, the
newspaper becomes heard [as heard] because it is saying things
and writing about facts which are not insults, and it wants the
Egyptian citizen to hear them. The Egyptian citizen might not
be able to afford this newspaper, or it might not reach him, so if
you broadcast it through the Voice of the Arab Homeland, yes,
he might not even able to read it if he is illiterate. Let him hear
it - that will be enough without any insults. The Voice of the
Arabs insulted some Arab regimes that still exist, although Libya
was the only state that was not insulted by the Voice of the Arabs
and was not attacked by 'Abd al-Nasir. And yet, it was the only
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state where a Nasirite revolution took place in support of 'Abd
al-Nasir, whereas, the states and the leaders who were insulted
and atacked by `Abd al-Nasir, the Voice of the Arabs and the
Egyptian radio stations and national newspapers still exist. He
[Al-Nasir] often insulted Arab regimes that still exist, like the
Jordanian, the Moroccan, the Saudi regimes, he insulted all of
them. These regimes still exist, which proves that insults do not
(?alter things). We responded to `Abd al-Nasir even if he did not
insult Libya or the monarchy. In any case, he was silent about it,
but we were not silent.
It is possible to influence events in a country without being
abusive toward it, like `Abd al-Nasir, who influenced events in
Libya without being abusive toward it. On the other hand, these
religious, cultural, medical, agricultural, and educational pro-
grams - we must view them with a revolutionary eye. Primarily,
nobody can be allowed to sit down and begin teaching us our
religion. Anyone who talks about religion on the radio is only
talking about one book which he read, talking about his own
readings, about a specific school, or his own interpretations and
his own `Ijtihad [interpretation of Islamic laws]. These, however,
cannot apply to all Muslims. If we were to discuss the polygamy
topic, every shaykh might come up with an interpretation, and
thus, if this shaykh spoke on the radio he would indeed be talking
only about his own interpretation.
However, the absence of religious programs from the media is
unacceptable. Furthermore, it is also unacceptable for such a
program to be the monopoly of one person or one group. This is
not the right way. It is necessary to somehow find a way for a
religious program, but we cannot accept that someone would
allow himself to teach us - someone who would think of himself
as the religion's inheritor. Who can claim to be the religion's
inheritor and who can claim the right to teach us? Any matter
can be decided, whether by the Koran or by Muhammad's acts
and tradition, which nobody can argue with. They can also be
decided by some religious events, clear events which nobody can
dispute. When we try to interpret the Koran, each of us might
have his own Koranic exegesis: One might give his own political
interpretation, his own personal interpretation, propaganda
interpretation, and racist interpretation. The Koran has now
more than one interpretation; interpretations according to time
and race, meaning everyone has interpreted the Koran as he
wants. The Arabic version, for the Koran exegesis is different
from non-Arabic one: that is, a non-Arab Muslim would interpret
the Koran differently. The reasons for all sedition and rifts lie
in the different ways the Koran has been interpreted, everybody
interprets as he wants. So if we want to find an interpretation for
the Koran we might as well bring all previous ones and assert:
Well, this verse was interpreted like this, they interpreted it like
this. Well, it was interpreted differently at different epochs and
by different scholars, and thus only God knows the truth and we
can leave it as it is. Religion is the Koran and nothing else.
Anything other than the Koran is heresy - any novelty is heresy
and any heresy is a deviation from the righteous path, and anyone
who strays from the righteous path will go to hell - this is the
theory of anything new in the religion - anything new is heresy,
yes, heresy is a deviation from the righteous path, and whoever
strays will go to hell, and there is no doubt about that. [passage
as heard]
Q 2 NORTH AFRICA
Yes, religious practices are well defined. Nobody can dispute the
Hajj or its principles. The latter are well-defined, and no one can
dispute them. However, these calls by the atonement, ecstasy and
Al-Tabligh groups [fundamentalist group formed with the aim of
spreading the true words of Islam] are heresy because you are
advocating new things - you are trying to make the month of
Ramadan 45 days. You know, the group of Al-Tabligh can be
called the Group of 45 days - how this cannot be heresy? Well,
there are 30 days in the month of Ramadan, or shall we try to
perfidiously change it, although we have never, however, fasted
for the full 30 days. [Al-Qadhdhafi laughs] Well, they want to
make it 45 days. This is a serious issue, and the one who advocates
it should be stoned or executed because he has strayed from
Islam. What are these 45 days all about? Maybe he wants to
make it 45 days in order to make people renounce Islam, cause
Muslims to stay away from religion and decrease the number of
those who observe Ramadan. It may well be that some anti-
Islamic elements, like Israelis and crusaders, are also part of
these movements in order to harm Islam and sabotage it by
asking a new convert to fast for 45 days every year. What are
these 45 days all about? Suppose that these Al-Tabligh elements
were the ones who (?were ruling) the Islamic world and Ramadan
became 45 days. We, though we are Muslims, would not observe
it [words indistinct] They are also adding to and taking away from
the way Al-Salat [prayers] should be performed. This is heresy.
We should add nothing to the Koran [words indistinct], so we
must adhere to [words indistinct] any religion must be within the
Koran since outside the latter there is no religion. There is no
doubt about that; we do not recognize anything outside of the
Koran. Heresy is when you bring on something else after the
Koran!! Something which was not asked for by the Prophet
himself, nor by God. Neither asked for anything else.
Is there an annex to the Koran or to the second chapter of the
Koran, or the second copy? There is not. The Koran is one book.
That is the end of it. In particular, the issue of Islam after the
Koran and after the death of Muhammad does not bear any
argument. All the parties, the so-called Muslim brothers - they
are actually Muslim traitors because they destroy Islam and they
are under the wing of Zionism, and the Islamic Liberation Party.
These calls which you hear about are manufactured by the
American, Zionist, and British intelligence agencies. The first to
manufacture them was the British intelligence when the British
were in the Arab homeland during World War I. Then Zionism
began, and the Israelis entered. Now there is the American
intelligence agency. It adopts the Muslim brothers. It adopts the
ulema, the so-called Muslim ulema. It builds mosques. The
American intelligence agency is now building mosques in Amer-
ica and brings Muslims, so-called Muslims, and telling them to
pray, manage, do such and such a thing, attack this regime,
attack socialism, attack relations with the Soviet Union, say that
such-and-such a person should be killed: kill `Abd al-Nasir, kill
Al-Qadhdhafi, and [words indistinct].
Therefore America [word indistinct]. It is not fighting us, it has
penetrated us. A religious program is not the work of any silly
person, anyone who read a yellowed book; anyone who makes an
effort in something ridiculous, such as whether death is an animal
bigger than a donkey and smaller than a horse. What is all this?
(?What does it matter?) When death comes [word indistinct] a
mule, donkey, horse, little donkey, or anything, then that is it.
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V. 30 Apr 87 Q 3
Death is death. What does it matter whether we know what death
looks like? If our knowledge of its shape means that we can avoid
it or treat it, then perhaps medicine could deal with this matter,
prolong human life, build spare parts for his heart and bring a
pump for it. What is this nonsense? For a medical program there
should [word indistinct] and to educate the people. We are
building. The people want to be more civilized. We are civilizing
ourselves. We are very backward and want to be civilized. I say
learn prevention before the cure. We should learn the correct and
right habits. The same thing applies to agriculture. We were
planting haphazardly, but now we want to learn how to plant in
a modern way and how not to harm the soil, water, and planta-
tion. We want to have agricultural culture, and agricultural
understanding. Nobody will come to us at our house to teach us
except the radio. The blackboard is the screen in the middle of
the house. Every peasant family has a blackboard before it and
this is the screen through which it learns. [as heard]
I mean that the education and cultural program [word indistinct]
programs. The Jamahiri radio gathers what the masses produce
and transforms it into a useful format. We do not do a program
[word indistinct] the masses on it. [words indistinct] a method in
religion. For instance, suppose that we are propagating one of
these corrupt calls which we have been talking about. Can we
force the people and teach them corrupt religion? Can we teach
them the philosophy of the Muslim brothers? Suppose one is a
member of the Muslim brothers. He will teach them Muslim
brothers teachings. Suppose one is an atheist. He will teach us
atheism. All this is [word indistinct]. People's affairs are reflected
in media and culture. You do not manufacture culture. You
gather culture and present it in a media framework. Even art and
these things which are produced by the people - you adopt them.
You do not tell the people to produce such and such art, stop the
drums, and stop what is called in the mountains [words indistinct]
The educational programs: The most important thing is to
learn from the radio station. The radio station is a general teacher
and a blackboard put in front of all of us. This is its basis: the
radio station should be beneficial to us in teaching, we must learn
from it. You should also devote special programs to adults and
to children, on Fridays, on anniversaries, the National Day, etc.
Everything according to the occasion. How can you show an
American film on Friday night? On the contrary, on Friday night
we should listen to the Koran and religious matters.
What about the stations themselves and their electric supply? It
has nothing to do with this committee. Electricity is linked to the
Electricity Committee. Even the station could be linked to the
Electricity Committee. You do not deal with engines and
buildings, or with transformers or fuel. It is none of your business.
You deal with an intellectual matter, a media matter. You came
and found a station operating and you deposited in it the material
in your possession. If you find the station out of order, it is not
your business; it is for the Electricity, Industry or the Communi-
cations Committees to look into the matter. The antennas, the
electricity, the stations, the generators and the buildings have
nothing to do with you. You are the material to be put in the
apparatus. You found something that broadcasts and you put
your material into it. If it does not broadcast, it is not your
responsiblity. It is a mechanical issue, so you have nothing to do
with it. How can a doctor specialised in interpretation talk about
a station and the electricity feeding it? It has nothing to do with
him. He knows nothing about it. He should not waste even a
minute discussing a matter that does not concern him. It is none
of my business to know whether you have a station, electricity, a
machine which operates or not. This is a mechanical matter and
it has nothing to do with us. Your duty is to bring your material
and use it. It is best to separate the two things. Then you will have
one public body responsible for these matters to the people.
Nobody will say to you that your station is heard. If you ask
anybody, they will say the station is not heard by one-fifth, or
that it is faint. The fact that it is not heard has nothing to do with
you, it is technical issue. You have material: prepare it whether
it is a powerful or weak station.
In any case, the task of this People's Committee for Information
is, on the whole, to utilize, guide, and highlight what the masses
produce. You should not impose what you produce on them.
Moreover, the personal songs that go on about Mu'ammar [al-
Qadhdhafi] are absurd and never benefit us. This is the second
time I speak about it officially. It is not beneficial to us. Other-
wise the songs about 'Abd al-Nasir would have been of some
benefit in Egypt. What good did they have? They are now burnt
and no longer exist. You cannot find one song about 'Abd
al-Nasir's revolution. What use can we make of these songs? I
tell you, you can put these types of songs on videocassettes or just
tapes, and you can sell them. If someone plays them in his own
car or his home, they are free to do so, but you should not impose
them upon the public. We the people, the common people, we
have nothing to do with a song about Mu'ammar. What use can
we make of it? If we like him and would like to hear a song about
him, we should play it at home in our tape-recorder. But to make
everyone hear it, what is the use? If anyone thinks it is going to
tickle my emotions, it is not true. On the contrary, I hate a song
which mentions my name and I switch off the radio when it
happens, because I do not like it at all. On the contrary, we want
to give benefits and guidance to the masses. This is our message.
If you want to glorify this stand, then put it in something special
and give it to the people and let them buy it. You can even write
songs, songs about Al-Qadhdhafi, and people can buy them and
listen to them on their own. But they should not be heard over
the radio.
In the field of information, we would like you to stop the
counterattack. In the research study which (?Ali) sent me [words
indistinct] he draws a conclusion on a so-called anti- [word
unfinished]; he says before there was the hostility toward Islam,
rancor against Islam and an historical enmity resulting from the
Crusades, the Arab-Muslim conquest of Europe which extended
to Spain and the Mediterranean Sea.
There is an animosity towards Arabism and the Arabs because
they are the ones who carried Islam across the sea. In their minds,
the minds of the Europeans, Islam is a destructive idea which
destroyed the churches, the crosses, and the statues. The Muslims
considered them to be against God and a symbol of atheism and
destroyed them. In the mind of the West, Islam is a destructive
idea which is full of hatred toward Christianity which existed
before Islam and full of hatred toward Judaism.
This is the origin of the exploitation of Christianity and Judaism
by the crusaders and Zionists. They used them against Islam in
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an unholy alliance. This picture is in their minds, and it led to
hatred of Islam. This extended to the Prophet himself. For
instance, this is exactly similar to what happens when a bomb
explodes anywhere: a statement is issued accusing Libya of being
responsible, or any Arab. They say Al-Qadhdhafi, in spite of the
fact that I do not know about it or have any knowledge of it. After
the death of the Prophet, whenever there are invasions or a cross
is broken in a specific place, they say Muhammad ordered it.
Therefore this Muhammad is a malicious person who hates us
and he is not a prophet. Also, he married a number of women.
Therefore, when the Arabs invade and women prisoners are
taken, it is because their Prophet wants them to bring him women
slaves. He is dead. But they still think that the invasions, tens and
hundreds of years after his death, are ordered by the Prophet to
take the women of Europe prisoners. He says there is a hatred of
Islam, hatred of the Arabs who protected Islam, and hatred of
the honour which was embraced by the Arabs and Islam. That
is it, a hatred complex which is there. He says that now this is
reflected on anti-Qadhdhafism [words indistinct]. He calls it
anti-Qadhdhafism, like anti-Semitism. He says the hatred of
Al-Qadhdhafi in the West [word indistinct] makes it embody in
him the Arabs, Islam and the East. Therefore the Palestinian is
hated and Al-Qadhdhafi is hated, because the Palestinian looks
as though he is fighting Judaism, and Al-Qadhdhafi supports
those who fight Judaism.
Al-Qadhdhafi fights America and fights the West. What does
this mean? It means that al-Qadhdhafi fights the West, fights
Christianity. It means that he is following the path of the Prophet
Muhammad and the Muslims [word indistinct) confronting the
West, invading the West, destroying the West, and reaching
Spain. All these - and of course, this man is a Westerner and
he makes these explanations. This is odd. I mean, perhaps you
are hiding them. These things, which we are talking about now,
we should have talked about them without hesitation. They
should be made clear to the Arabs and the Libyans here. An
innocent, good Libyan might come and say [words indistinct]
This is not true. He does not know the injust rabid campaign
against us. This man is a Westerner. Look, he is a Westerner. He
wrote saying that Al-Qadhdhafi aims at establishing an Arab
state that would be the third international power. He wrote it in
France Soir on 24 March 1973. He began considering it the
beginning of an attack. He said since he intends to create a third
international power, they are against him. All right, perhaps our
citizens do not know that. [passage indistinct] I brought all the
dates. Then, on the international level, they say: Al-Qadhdhafi
and his revolution are a disaster on the international level. They
present us to the world and to the West as a disaster. He wrote
it in 1981 in [word indistinct] magazine 27 August 1981. Then
they describe Al-Qadhdhafi as constituting a universal danger.
Then Al-Qadhdhafi threatens nuclear doomsday.
Naturally this is a terrifying thing in the West when you say that
someone is calling for World War III, a nuclear war. Then they
start to say that he should be destroyed. I think that we should
publish these things so that our families will hear about the fierce,
hostile campaign against us. Then we must follow it up by talking
about it and replying to it, because all these things are not true,
since we are not a disaster and we are not calling for a nuclear
war. These were written by [word indistinct] and Liberation on 3
July 1981. The Terrifying One in Italy; this is another headline
written by Le Malin on 19 July 1981. The one who terrifies Italy,
the one who organizes disturbances in Gafsa - Le Malin on 30
November 1980. The one who declared war on France; this is
[words indistinct] on 7 February 1981.
The one who threatens Africa: They want to make the Africans
hate us by claiming that we - Al-Qadhdhafi - threaten Africa.
Le Malin [words indistinct] the one who arms the Palestinian
Fedayeen. These are matters that should be discussed. Arms
them. People whose land has been occupied - how can we not
arm them? They consider it a crime. Look, Al-Qadhdhafi arms
the Palestinian Fedayeen who are doing such-and-such things -
Journal [words indistinct] in 1974. The one who destroys the
American interests - Le Monde 1981. The one who threatens.
the life of President Reagan - this came in the news bulletin
[words indistinct] 1981. The one who launched an endless reli=
gious war - Le Point 1981. All these are issues for discussion;
What is it like to launch an endless religious war? Look, these
are all lies and deceptive propaganda. We neither said: Here,
look what they say about us; nor did we confront them and argue
with them. All these are matters for discussion. The desert debate.
- Le Quotidien de Paris 1976. Organizer of international theft
- Le Figaro 1984. [words indistinct] Then at the end he writes-
:The phenomenon of anti-Al-Qadhdhafism, and he explains it by
saying that this did not stem from a vacuum, but from anti-
Islamicism and anti-Arabism and anti-honor embraced by Islam
and Arabs; as if Al-Qadhdhafi is the embodiment of all these
things and a new resurrection of them. He says that this is similar
to what happened when the Russian revolution began. They
called it the Red Danger, and they imposed the Iron Curtain.
When the Maoist revolution began, they called it the Yellow
Danger, and they refused to recognize it even at the United
Nations. Now they call it the Green Danger, and so on. It is an
explanation of the great historic changes and the attempts to
destroy them from the beginning. Misunderstanding them also
leads to this. Therefore this needs a strong media and culture
struggle from us in order to confront this war and to convince the
people - but the Jews and Christians will not be satisfied with
you until you follow their religion.
Minister Denies Tension With Morocco Over Sahara
LD291506 Rabat MAP in English 1229 GMT 29 Apr 87
[Text] Nouakchott, Apr 29 (MAP) - "What Morocco is doing
(in the Sahara) falls within its sovereignty. Morocco has the right
to do whatever it pleases at home and [I] do not believe that
Moroccan-Mauritanian relations are tarnished by whatever ten-
sion. This is untrue", said Mauritanian Minister of the Interior
Lieut-Col. Djibril Ould Abdellahi.
In an interview with journalists in Nouakchott reported by the
special envoy of the Moroccan daily Le Malin du Sahara, the
Mauritanian official said that if Mauritania had rung the alarm-
bell following the construction of the last defense wall in the
Sahara, it has never been a question for the Mauritanians to allow
anybody to resort to manoeuvers aimed at making use of this
"alarm-bell."
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