Englewood, NJ – Opposition to Moammar Gadhafi’s possible visit to Englewood grew Monday with Sen. Frank Lautenberg asking the State Department to restrict the Libyan dictator’s travels to the area around the United Nations next month.
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Lautenberg joined several local leaders in trying to prevent Gadhafi from staying at a Palisade Avenue estate that his country has owned since 1982.
Derided for sponsoring terrorism, including the Pan Am 103 bombing that killed 270 people in 1988, Gadhafi will visit the United States for the first time next month to speak at the U.N. General Assembly.
“Given recent events, I believe the State Department should ensure that Colonel Qaddafi’s entry into the United States is for official U.N. business only and does not allow him to travel freely,” Lautenberg wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
A State Department spokesman said his agency has the power to restrict travel to leaders from countries deemed hostile, like Cuba and North Korea, but may not have any say over Gadhafi. In 2006, the Bush administration removed Libya from the list of nations that sponsor terrorism and resumed full diplomatic ties with the country.
“We’re still evaluating everything, but where he stays will likely be up to him,” said Fred Lash, a State Department spokesman.
Gov. Corzine expressed outrage at the possibility of a Gadhafi visit to North Jersey. “Anyone who embraces convicted terrorists is not welcomed in New Jersey,” said Robert Corrales, a spokesman for Corzine.
The rumored visit has already been condemned by Rep. Steve Rothman, Mayor Michael Wildes and members of the Englewood City Council.
The eccentric leader has asked for permission to pitch a large Bedouin tent in Central Park. If he is denied, there is speculation that he will set up his temporary home on the grounds of his country’s 4.7-acre estate that is undergoing major renovations after years of neglect.
Englewood police are already planning to deal with crowd control and security should Gadhafi visit, said Councilwoman Charlotte Bennett Schoen, whose ward includes the mansion. Gadhafi’s visit to Rome in June was met with violent protests.
“It’s crucial that everyone knows there will be enough security here,” Bennett Schoen said.
Englewood Police Chief Arthur O’Keefe did not return a phone call seeking comment.
Gadhafi’s rumored visit is particularly upsetting because 38 Flight 103 victims were from New Jersey. Relatives of victims were enraged by the release last week of the bombing’s ringleader, Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi, who was greeted as a hero by Gadhafi upon his return to Tripoli.
One relative of a Flight 103 victim, said he would organize a demonstration outside the mansion should Gadhafi visit.
“If this lunatic wants to stay in Englewood, then I invite anyone that’s against state sponsored terrorism to march on this mansion and make life miserable for this man,” said Bert Ammerman of River Vale, whose brother Tom was killed in the bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland.
Relatives had already planned a demonstration outside the U.N. when Gadhafi is scheduled to speak on Sept. 23. But Ammerman thinks a protest in Englewood would have more impact.
“We would probably be pushed several blocks away from the U.N.” Ammerman said. “He will be able to hear us in Englewood.”
The rabbi who lives next to the mansion on Palisade Avenue said Monday that he plans to sue Libya for cutting down trees on his property during the recent construction work.
“If they don’t restore my trees and fence to what they were, immediately, then I will sue them so that Libyan money goes to peaceful projects like planting trees rather than blowing up planes,” Rabbi Shmuley Boteach said in a statement.
Boteach wrote a recent column in the Jerusalem Post entitled “Gaddafi, my neighbor.”
Bennett Schoen echoed some of Boteach’s views that Gadhafi should only be welcomed if he takes a strong stand against terrorism.
“Only then should we have a conversation with him,” she said.
All these ehrleche yiddin can jump in front of the cameras and wave their arms an protest signs, but the issues is simple: as the head of a member state of the U.N. who the U.S. government has reestablished formal diplomatic ties, he is entitled to come to the U.N. and under the treaty we have with the U.N., he can stay anywhere he wants within 25 miles of NYC. If it makes you fell better, demonstrate, but don’t expect it will have any affect since this has all been cleared in advance with the State Department. If Englewood asks nicely, they may also consider reimbursement for extra local security costs the visit may entail.
Provide security to this murderer
If you agree to have a sewer system on your property you have to expect and deal with the stink.
Why do they let him in if he owes the city about $1 million in taxes?
its the u.s.government that allows diplomats and foriegn dignitaries to own property here.so,suggest u.s senators get an earful about gadhafi and other rogues like him
we need to protest this visit because we need to show that we dissaprove the “visit” from one who killed 38 of our friends, neighbors,loved ones.we respectfully dissagree.that is the msg for moammar and indeed for our federal gov.please attend 440 e palisades ave englewood cliffs 11:am sunday aug the 30th