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Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi - Source: Reuters -
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Nigeria has recalled its ambassador to Libya and questioned
whether the North African country is sponsoring violence after
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said Nigeria should split along
religious lines.
The Nigerian Foreign Ministry said it had recalled Ambassador Isah
Mohammed for urgent consultations after Gaddafi's comments, which
come as Nigeria tries to contain violent clashes between Muslim and
Christian gangs which have killed hundreds of people around the
central city of Jos.
The Nigerian parliament meanwhile passed a motion late on Thursday
urging the government to order an investigation by the African
Union into whether Libya was supplying infiltrators to destabilise
the country.
"The insensitive and oftentimes irresponsible utterances of Colonel
Gaddafi, his theatrics and grandstanding at every auspicious
occasion have become too numerous to recount. These have diminished
his status and credibility as a leader to be taken seriously," the
Nigerian Foreign Ministry said.
"His comments on the crisis in Jos, Plateau state, are most
unacceptable and unbecoming of any leader who claims to advocate
and champion the cause of African integration and unity."
Gaddafi said in a speech to students this week that the Jos crisis
was a deep conflict of religious nature and suggested splitting
Nigeria along religious lines would stop bloodshed and burning of
places of worship, according to the BBC.
He praised the example of India and Pakistan, where he said
partition had saved many lives.
Machete-wielding mobs
Nigeria's Plateau State, of which Jos is the capital, lies at the
crossroads of the predominantly Muslim north and mostly Christian
south in the centre of Africa's most populous nation, a region
known as the Middle Belt.
Fierce competition for control of fertile farmlands between
Christian and animist indigenous groups and Muslim settlers from
the north, as well as political rivalries, have repeatedly
triggered unrest in the region over the past decade.
Days of clashes in January and attacks in recent weeks in which
villagers have been hacked to death with machetes have left
hundreds of people dead, leading to worldwide condemnation.
"(We) call on the federal Government to request the African Union
to order an independent investigation ... and ascertain if there is
a relationship between (Gaddafi's) comment and the primary sources
of the supply of infiltrators who come to fight Nigerians in their
homeland," parliament's motion said.
Nigeria frequently blames militants from neighbouring countries for
violence in its centre and north but there is no independent
evidence of foreign involvement.
The Jos unrest has put Nigeria in the international spotlight as it
also struggles with a political crisis triggered by the prolonged
illness of ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua, and the risk of
resurgent violence in its oil-producing Niger Delta.
Acting President Goodluck Jonathan sacked the cabinet on Wednesday
in a bid to consolidate his authority, deepening the immediate
political uncertainty.
Gaddafi, who was until recently the head of the African Union, has
frequently stirred controversy in his dealings with sub-Saharan
Africa.
He has long championed a United States of Africa but many south of
the Sahara question his ambitions, saying his vision of a unified
continent includes him being in charge of it.
Libya has also been in dispute with western nations.
This week it patched up a row with the United States caused when
a US official made caustic remarks about a speech by Gaddafi.
A dispute between Libya and Switzerland deepened last month when
Gaddafi called for a "jihad" against Switzerland.
Tripoli has been locked in a row with the Swiss since July 2008
when police in Geneva arrested one of the Libyan leader's sons,
Hannibal, on charges - which were later dropped - of mistreating
two domestic employees.
