President attends Libya revolution anniversary

President George Abela and his wife Margaret are in Libya attending the celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the revolution led by Muammar Gaddafi.

The event has been described as the greatest party in Libya's history but, in view of the Lockerbie bomber release deal, it could not have come at a more diplomatically difficult time.

On September 1, 1969, together with a group of soldiers, 27-year-old Col Gaddafi overthrew King Idris I in a bloodless revolution. The king was undergoing medical treatment at a Greek resort at the time.

The 40th anniversary will be marked with a programme of activities spreading over six days, including a military parade.

One of the organisers had recently said French President Nicholas Sarkozy and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin would be attending but both countries denied they would.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who launched a highway project in Tripoli on Sunday, has said he would not be attending the parade.

This comes as Tripoli continues to take heat for the hero's welcome it gave to convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi.

Mr al-Megrahi's release from a Scottish jail on compassionate grounds sparked angry US reactions and allegations it was part of a deal to secure trade and other concessions from oil-rich Libya.

Libyan newspapers splashed photographs of the homecoming of Mr al-Megrahi, the only person convicted of involvement in the bombing of a Pan Am flight over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing 270 people including 180 Americans.

Television showed images of Col Gaddafi embracing the convicted bomber. » See also pages 26, 27