Qaddafi Preaches Islam to Rome's Women

Beyond the Veil| Colonel Muammar Gaddafi used his presence in Rome at the United Nations summit on world food security to preach the benefits of converting from Christianity to Islam to “500 pleasing girls between 18 and 35 years of age, at least one metre 70 high.”

Those who replied were offered €60 (£53) to attend an evening at the villa for an “exchange of opinions” and to “receive a Libyan gift”, which turned out to be a copy of the Koran. They were given nothing to eat or drink, however.

About 200 women attended the evening, including Paola Lo Mele, a journalist with the Italian news agench ANSA.

Saying that it was “untrue that Islam is against women” according to Corriere della Sera, Colonel Gaddafi urged the women to convert to Islam. He explained to the group that in fact Christ had not died on the Cross and been resurrected, as Christians believe. In fact, a “look-alike” was substituted for the real Jesus.

“Convert to Islam. Jesus was sent to the Jews, not for you. Mohammed, on the other hand, was sent for all human beings,” he reportedly said. “Whoever goes in a different direction than Mohammed is wrong. God’s religion is Islam, and whoever follows a different one, in the end, will lose,” Colonel Gaddafi added, according to La Stampa.