Doha: Qadhafi Does his Qadhafi Thing

The Doha Summit was already going to be interesting because of buzz about who was coming (‘Umar al-Bashir showed up) and who wasn't (Husni Mubarak was boycotting), but then there is always the perennial question of Arab summits: what will Qadhafi do?

Mu‘ammar al-Qadhafi is known for his tirades at summits, but for this one he seems to have been in especially classic form, denouncing the Saudi King and, when the Qataris cut his microphone, proclaiming that he was "the dean of the Arab rulers, the king of kings of Africa and the imam of Muslims." I wonder if the other African states were aware that giving him a one-year chairmanship of the African Union made him the King of Kings of Africa? (Hmm: this AFP story says he was given the title by "African tribal dignitaries," whatever that means.) I don't recall hearing him claim to be "Imam of the Muslims" before. I guess we have to give him "dean of the Arab rulers," since he's been in power since 1969, though I thought he had previously argued that he wasn't a "ruler" but simply a "Guide" of the Revolution who held no official position.

He then stormed out and visited a museum. The opening session of the Doha Summit has not been the display of unity the Qataris hoped for; perhaps things will improve. The Egyptian absence and the fact that today's official Egyptian papers are virtually ignoring the summit — Al-Ahram's lead story is Mubarak visiting an agricultural development project — underscores the longstanding feud between Egypt and Qatar. [NOTE: That story is no longer at the coded link: I assume when the new day's edition goes up, the links change.]

LATER: The BBC now says that reports Qadhafi "stormed out" were incorrect, but other reports say he went to the Islamic Museum instead. At any event he made a scene of some sort.

THE TEXT: In case anyone wondered if the reporting of his words was accurate, here's an English dispatch from the official Jamhiriyya News Agency, with (presumably official) text. The "standing ovation" was not, however, mentioned in other accounts.