For the first time in Moammar Gadhafi's 23-year rule, an official newspaper has criticized the Libyan leader's policies - accusing him of antagonizing the West without benefit to Libya.
The weekly newspaper Jama-hiri-ya began the attack Tuesday when it said Gadhafi should abandon the "mirage" of Arab unity and put Libya's interests first, even if that means allying Libya "with the Jews themselves."It kept up the criticism in a special edition Wednesday by suggesting that Libya close its borders with Arab countries and open them to Chinese, Indians, Belgians and Italians.
Hours after the newspaper fired its first shot, the official news agency JANA reported the agency had been taken over by "revolutionary forces from among the revolutionary press."
It was not clear whether the commentaries and JANA announcement represented moves against Gadhafi or were maneuvers orchestrated by the mercurial Libyan leader.
The General People's Congress, whose dictates Gadhafi says he is obliged to follow, meets Saturday. If the body ordered him to turn his back on the Arabs, it would give Gadhafi a face-saving way to abandon his dream of unifying the Arabs, with himself as the leader.