Apr 10, 2000
*** "We DON'T need
democracy, we need water pumps. We don't want the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean; we
want tourists in the Mediterranean."
(Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi lashing out at the West's version of
democracy and demanding expel of the US Navy's Sixth Fleet from the Mediterranean Sea in
his speech on the first day of EU-African summit in Cairo)
*** "THEY HAVE looted and plundered Pakistan's wealth,
they are living in obscene opulence. We have heard about president Marcos of Philippines,
but this family puts them to shame."
(Pakistan's military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf rejecting handing over
power to corrupt political leaders, particularly the family of former premier, Nawaz
Sharif)
*** "WHEREVER JOHN PAUL II goes on his trips, he will
always speak of the poor and of solidarity. He is the most important socialist in the
world."
(Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev delivering a speech to
students of Rome's Sapienza university)
*** "IT WILL dispel some of the myths . . . as every
Tom, Dick and uncle of a friend has been writing books on the Beatles since 1963."
(Sir Paul McCartney, one of the three surviving Beatles on the
reuniting of him and former colleagues George Harrison and Ringo Starr and spending six
years to write a 360-page 'Beatles Anthology' to be published in the autumn)
*** "FOR MY part, I maintain my position: I don't
believe in the gas chambers. Let the exterminationists provide the proof and I will
believe it. But as I've been waiting for this proof for decades, I don't believe I will
see it soon."
(Gastron-Armand Amaudruz denying the existence of Nazi gas chambers and
the holocaust at trial in Lausanne, Switzerland)
*** " 'SMOKING KILLS. If you're killed, you've lost an
important part of your life.' 'I've been up and down so many times that I feel as if I'm
in revolving door.' "
(Excerpts from a book titled Stupid Celebrities quoting ramblings of
Hollywood stars Brook Shields and Cher respectively)
*** "I AM resentful about the type of thing that
America and Britain are doing. They want now to be the policemen of the world and I'm
sorry that Britain has joined the US in this regard."
(Former South African President Nelson Mandela accusing Britain and the
US of encouraging chaos by ignoring other nations during his first visit to Britain since
his retirement)
*** "Mrs Albright's admission constitute an acceptance
of responsibility and we are considering legal action."
(Iranian foreign minister Kamal Kharazi saying that his country is
considering suing the US for supporting Shah and Iraq)
*** "I'M THE only female bodyguard among the 67
leaders here and that makes me very proud. I follow him wherever he goes and I never have
any problems."
(Muammar Qaddafi's personal female bodyguard, the un-named blackbelt in
Karate, at EU-Africa summit in Cairo)
*** "ALL WE hear about are public funds being
diverted, widespread thieving, dishonest politicians. I am ashamed of Brazil."
(International soccer legend Pele expressing abhorrence of the
widespread corruption in his native Brazil)
*** "BASED ON the distribution of power and alignments
in 1945, the composition of the Council today does not fully represent either the
character or the needs of our globalised world."
(UN Secretary General Kofi Annan calling for the reformation of the
Security Council which presently has five members with veto power — US, Britain,
France, Russia and China — plus 10 members elected from the General Assembly for two
years)
*** "THE POTENTIAL is enormous. This could allow us to
regrow a heart muscle or bone marrow and that is not a threat to humanity."
(An unidentified member of panel of experts led by British government's
chief medical officer Dr Liam Donaldson defending the decision that the potential benefits
of human embryo cloning outweighs ethical objections)
Edited by
Syed M. Aslam
