At the 64th General Assembly :

Kadhafi accuses UN of failure to prevent 65 wars

UNITED NATIONS: Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi berated Western powers Wednesday in a UN diatribe, accusing the global body of failing to prevent millions of deaths as he demanded trillions of dollars in colonial reparations.

Paying his first visit to the 192-member body in his 40 years in power, Kadhafi was introduced to the podium by the title "King of Kings," immediately after US President Barack Obama.

Sporting a sand-hued tribal robe with an oversized lapel pin in the shape of Africa, Kadhafi flagrantly defied orders by the General Assembly's chair - a fellow Libyan - to speak for 15 minutes, and went on for one hour, 35 minutes.

He denounced the UN Security Council - where five powers hold veto power - as a "Terror Council" and blamed it for failing to prevent 65 wars since its creation in the aftermath of World War II.

"Superpowers have interests and they use the power of the United Nations to protect their interests.

The third world is terrified and being terrorized and living in fear," Kadhafi said.

"Sixty-five wars broke out after the establishment of the United Nations. The victims are in the millions, more than the victims of World War II," he said.

With too many countries vying to join the elite club of the Security Council, Kadhafi said the United Nations should instead empower its General Assembly to make binding decisions.

Kadhafi, who said he was speaking "in the name of 1,000 African kingdoms," also demanded compensation from the West for colonization of the continent and provided a precise figure - 7.77 trillion dollars.

"The Africans will call for that and if you don't give that amount - 7.77 trillion - the Africans will go to where you have taken these trillions. They have the right and they will bring the money back," Kadhafi said.

Despite the length of his speech, Kadhafi did not come close to record-holder Fidel Castro, who spoke to the UN General Assembly for four hours, 29 minutes in 1960, the year after he seized power in Cuba.

Kadhafi heaped praise on US President Barack Obama, saluting his efforts to reach out to the world and saying he would not mind if the US leader remained president forever. Thursday, AFP