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Following are excerpts from interviews with Egyptian journalist and presidential candidate Anis Al-Dgheidi, which aired on Al-Libiya TV on March 15, 2011, and on Al-Jamahiriya TV on March 9, 2011:
Al-Libiya TV, March 15, 2011:
Anis Al-Dgheidi: What is taking place on the ground is, indeed, a revolution – a revolution by Mu'ammad Al-Qadhafi against all the reactionary forces – the forces of historical backwardness and historical apostasy. This is a new revolution that reinforces the revolution of September 1, 1969. This is a new revolution, led Mu'ammar. What happed does necessitate the US to talk...
By the way, allow me to take this opportunity to genuinely and loving thank President Barack Obama for his latest position. I thank him for pausing to think, following our phone conversation last week. From here, I would like to thank President Obama. He knows that I show him respect when respect is due, and that I strongly rebuke him when rebuke is due.
The last time I talked with President Obama, when I was still in Egypt, before coming here, I told him that the situation in Iraq and in Afghanistan is completely different from the situation in Libya. Libya is tribal. The entity, or body, called Libya, has more than 40 [tribal] feet planted in the ground.
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Anis Al-Dgheidi: I told him some other things, which I will not repeat now, on the air. The truth is that President Obama took pause to think, and as far as I know...
Interviewer: Mr. Anis, am I to understand from what you are saying that Obama was trying to consult with you about the situation in Libya, and about the measure that the US should employ with regard to what is happening in Libya...
Anis Al-Dgheidi: The truth is that President Obama has been consulting me for a while now. He has offered me the position of his special advisor, and I am, indeed, very grateful for that, but I refused on the ground that the next president of Egypt cannot be an advisor to President Obama.
Interviewer: Yes.
Anis Al-Dgheidi: Even as presidential candidate, I cannot possibly be an advisor to any ruler.
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Al-Jamahiriya TV, March 9, 2011:
Anis Al-Dgheidi: Obama and David Cameron. They have yet to reach political maturity. Really. They have not read the situation in Libya correctly. They do not understand the personality of Mu'mmar Al-Qadhafi, and have not read geography or history. This is a catastrophe.
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