Wrath of Gadhafi prompts senior State Department official to apologize to Libya for insult

US official apologizes for insulting Libya leader

WASHINGTON — A senior State Department official apologized Tuesday for a joking remark he made about Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi that prompted Libya to threaten diplomatic retaliation.

Chief department spokesman P.J. Crowley said he regretted any offense caused by his response to a reporter’s question about Gadhafi’s recent call for a holy war against Switzerland. Libya said last week said it might take action against American interests there if a formal apology was not made.

Crowley had already said his offhand remark questioning the “sense” of Gadhafi’s speech to the U.N. General Assembly last year had not been intended as a personal attack. He met with Libya’s ambassador to the U.S. late last week to try to clear the matter up, but he had not apologized until Tuesday.

“I understand that my personal comments were perceived as a personal attack on (Gadhafi),” he told reporters. “The comments do not reflect U.S. policy and were not intended to offend. I apologize if they were taken that way. I regret that my comments have become an obstacle to further progress in our bilateral relationship.”

Crowley made the offending remark on Feb. 26 when he was asked what the U.S. thought of Gadhafi’s appeal for jihad against Switzerland after the country banned construction of new mosque minarets.

He said he was reminded of Gadhafi’s lengthy speech at the United Nations last September in which the Libyan leader ripped pages from the U.N. Charter.

“I saw that report and it just brought me back to a day in September, one of the more memorable sessions of the U.N. General Assembly that I can recall: lots of words and lots of papers flying all over the place, not necessarily a lot of sense,” he said.

Within days the Libyan government summoned the U.S. charge d’affaires in Tripoli, Joan Polaschik, and threatened negative repercussions if the U.S. failed to apologize.

At subsequent press briefings in Washington, Crowley said his “offhand comment” had not been “intended to be a personal attack” but he had stopped short of apologizing.

On Friday, after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton became aware of the situation, Crowley and the top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East, Jeffrey Feltman met with the Libyan ambassador to the United States in a bid to clear the matter up. But the Libyans insisted on an apology.

Crowley said Clinton had instructed Feltman to travel to Libya next week for broad discussions on bilateral ties.