Gadhafi's N.J. plans protested

NEWARK, N.J. - Gov. Corzine and New Jersey federal legislators joined an angry chorus of opposition yesterday to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's expected stay in the state, where 38 victims of the bombing of Pan American Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, lived before their deaths in 1988.

Corzine, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, and U.S. Rep. John Adler, all Democrats, protested anticipated plans by Gadhafi to stay in the northern New Jersey community of Englewood when he addresses the United Nations General Assembly next month. Menendez said he should be "barred" from New Jersey.

The Libyan government is renovating a sprawling estate in the upscale community, and Gadhafi is expected to pitch a ceremonial Bedouin-style tent on the grounds, after a request to erect it in Manhattan's Central Park was rejected, according to elected officials. Fifty-nine of the Pan Am victims were New York state residents.

Opposition to the ruler of the oil-rich North African nation has surged since he welcomed Abdel Baset al-Megrahi home last week. Megrahi is the only man convicted in the bombing, which is widely thought to be the work of Libyan intelligence. In all, 259 people aboard the plane and 11 on the ground were killed.

"I want him barred from New Jersey," Adler said at a gathering at the Victims of Terrorism Memorial in Pennsauken. "Let him land at the U.N. by helicopter, do his business, and get out of the country."

Adler plans to introduce a House resolution condemning Megrahi's release Sept. 8.

"Gadhafi is not welcome in New Jersey," Corzine said. "I am angry, like every other New Jerseyan and every other American, about the release of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi."

Gadhafi's expected U.N. appearance - his first U.S. visit - is the culmination of a years-long effort to rehabilitate his image and thaw relations between the West and Libya. He has ruled Libya the last 40 years, and was a steadfast critic of the United States early in his regime.

In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Gadhafi renounced terrorism, dismantled Libya's secret nuclear program, accepted his government's responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing, and paid compensation to the victims' families.

But he and his son drew criticism for what some have described as a hero's welcome for Megrahi, who was released from a life sentence by Scotland on Aug. 20 and returned to Libya on compassionate grounds because he is dying of cancer.

Critics view that welcome as a step backward. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown broke his silence on Megrahi yesterday, saying he was repulsed by the welcome Libya gave the convicted killer.

Under its host-nation agreement with the United Nations, the United States is obligated to allow foreign leaders, other officials, and diplomats into the country to visit or work at the U.N. with limited exceptions. But the provisions allow U.S. authorities to restrict their movement to a 25-mile radius around U.N. headquarters. Englewood is about 12 miles north of Manhattan, apparently placing it within the 25-mile radius.

Menendez urged the State Department to limit Gadhafi's stay to the immediate area around the U.N., echoing a request from Democratic U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey.

The Englewood estate is one of several possible sites being considered for Gadhafi and his entourage, according to the U.S. State Department and the Libyan Embassy in Washington. The Obama administration has said it would keep in mind the "raw sensitivities" of the families of Lockerbie bombing victims as it tried to find a place for him.