Monday 30 August 2010
Gaddafi gives lesson on Islam to young Italians
ROME: Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi gave a lesson on Islam and distributed copies of the Quran to a few hundred young Italian women on Sunday as he arrived in Rome for his fourth visit in a year.
It was the second time the Libyan leader, who travels with female bodyguards and fancies himself a self-styled feminist, had staged such an event for Italian women, who had been recruited by a modeling agency and paid an undisclosed sum to attend.
Michela, who asked that her last name not be used, said that three of the participants converted to Islam on the spot.
It was a really beautiful meeting and went very well, she said. He is very easygoing and he gave us a copy of the Quran. Three girls converted themselves to Islam during the ceremony. It was a beautiful event, she added.
Other participants, though, identifying themselves as Roman Catholics in this overwhelmingly Catholic country, said Gaddafi had urged others to convert and had dismissed Christianity as unimportant. Between 200 and 500 young women attended, arriving in 10 buses at the Libyan ambassadors residence just as Gadhafis plane was landing at Romes Ciampino airport at the start of a two-day visit. The visit, amid steadily improving business ties between Libya and its former colonial ruler, also marks the second anniversary of a friendship treaty in which Italy agreed to pay Libya $5 billion as compensation for its 30-year occupation, which ended in 1943.
When Gaddafi was in Italy in November for a UN food summit, he hosted 200 young Italian women who had been recruited and paid $75 by the same modeling agency to attend. Then, too, he had given a lecture on Islam. ap
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\08\30\story_30-8-2010_pg7_11
Gaddafi gives lesson on Islam to young Italians
ROME: Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi gave a lesson on Islam and distributed copies of the Quran to a few hundred young Italian women on Sunday as he arrived in Rome for his fourth visit in a year.
It was the second time the Libyan leader, who travels with female bodyguards and fancies himself a self-styled feminist, had staged such an event for Italian women, who had been recruited by a modeling agency and paid an undisclosed sum to attend.
Michela, who asked that her last name not be used, said that three of the participants converted to Islam on the spot.
It was a really beautiful meeting and went very well, she said. He is very easygoing and he gave us a copy of the Quran. Three girls converted themselves to Islam during the ceremony. It was a beautiful event, she added.
Other participants, though, identifying themselves as Roman Catholics in this overwhelmingly Catholic country, said Gaddafi had urged others to convert and had dismissed Christianity as unimportant. Between 200 and 500 young women attended, arriving in 10 buses at the Libyan ambassadors residence just as Gadhafis plane was landing at Romes Ciampino airport at the start of a two-day visit. The visit, amid steadily improving business ties between Libya and its former colonial ruler, also marks the second anniversary of a friendship treaty in which Italy agreed to pay Libya $5 billion as compensation for its 30-year occupation, which ended in 1943.
When Gaddafi was in Italy in November for a UN food summit, he hosted 200 young Italian women who had been recruited and paid $75 by the same modeling agency to attend. Then, too, he had given a lecture on Islam. ap
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\08\30\story_30-8-2010_pg7_11
