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Africa: North
Gaddafi seeks 'friendship' with United States
2005-10-02
TRIPOLI: Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi said Friday that his country seeks "friendship" with the United States and that the time for confrontation with the superpower has passed, according to comments aired on official television. "We need friendship with the United States. America equally needs us and its oil companies can now work in Libya. It's time for reciprocal interests and not confrontation," Gaddafi said at an official ceremony in Syrte, 500 kilometres (300 miles) from Tripoli.

Last month US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice conferred with her Libyan counterpart Abd al-Rahman Shalgam in New York and said the two one-time foes were on a fast track towards better ties. "We have had a very good discussion of a path toward Libyan-US relations that will lead us to better and better relations between our people, between our governments," Rice told reporters on the sidelines of the current General Assembly session.
Posted by:Fred

#18  Hmmmm.... how about backup drummer for the Rolling Stones instead?
Posted by: Fun Dung Poo   2005-10-02 23:25  

#17  Correcting myself - some neurons fired and I recalled some more detail from his story - it was South of Jeddah - the Asir region, I think?
Posted by: .com   2005-10-02 16:31  

#16  Interesting info, OO - Thx!

I did have one "friend" among the Saudis who was actually interesting to talk to. He came from the last tribe to be subjugated by Aziz. I think he said they came from the mountainous area North (IIRC) of Jeddah / West of Medina. His grandfather had fought the Ikhwan - and he and his father had impressed upon him their hatred of the House of Saud. I have no idea how he slipped through his family's blacklisted status (my understanding) and got a job at Aramco, quite a plum among non-royals. When he wanted to tell me something about that topic, he would steer me to a more private location for our smoke - he was obviously worried about anyone hearing. This is the guy that boggled at my little story of taking twins, a little FFM thing, to the drive-in on my birthday, lol. I'll bet he asked me to repeat it 10 times, heh.
Posted by: .com   2005-10-02 16:20  

#15  One thing to keep in mind when trying to learn Arabic is that meaning occurs in the language primarily by metaphor, allusion and figures of speech.

In other words, it is not a language that tends towards simple clear definitions for words. Instead, the 3-consonant roots form the root, as it were, of a spreading tangled bush of connotations, some of them rather poetic and distant from the literal meaning of the root word.

One reason much of standard Arabic is so flowery is that connotations are piled up one on the other to bound the intended meanings of the sentence or paragraph. Often those words are chosen because they invoke well-known writers and works as well, bringing in additional levels of connotation ... I think of them as additional echoes of meaning.

This is true of most languages, of course, but much more true of Arabic than English or the IndoEuropean languages in general.
Posted by: Omerens Omaigum2983   2005-10-02 15:33  

#14  The s-d-q root forms the basis of a colloquial word for 'friend' in most dialects of Arabic - however, that word is used with strangers and those one doesn't really feel close to. Hence .com's experience with it in SA and the Gulf countries. The same root is used for 'charity' and 'dowry', in both cases with the connotation of formal relationships at a bit of an emotional distance.

a-l-'(y) is another root that is sometimes used for 'friend'. It's connotations are 'protector', 'patron', etc.

There are others used for more emotionally close relationships. They differ somewhat among the dialects and countries, sometimes due to different histories / encounters with other cultures and languages. The h-b-b root has meanings ranging from 'pleasant' to 'dear to me' and is sometimes used loosely to mean 'person I care for'.

If you're a westerner who isn't intimately familiar with the country and dialect in question, 'saddiq' is the least offensive option for 'friend'. Just understand that it doesn't mean what 'friend' means in many cases in English.

Been there too.
Posted by: Omerens Omaigum2983   2005-10-02 15:26  

#13  When he opens up the Whellus O-Club with a ribbon cutting ceremony, then we know we have a friend again.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2005-10-02 15:03  

#12  Gaddafi looks like a fun guy. hehe
Posted by: Jealet Thrinesing3298   2005-10-02 13:57  

#11  I have no problem with Gaddafi's friendship as long as he opens up his intel files to our spooks, helping us find the characters in the Middle East and south Asia, the old USSR funded as well as targeted to be killed. Such information could prove usefull in fighting this new generation of murderers.

He could also open his military files to military historians/military gamers over the Chadian civil war. A lot is not known about Libya's and the USSR's involvement in that 10 year long war.
Posted by: badanov   2005-10-02 13:12  

#10  BTW, everybody knows that the homebrew alcohol in Saudi is called "sid" - short for sidiqi - and means "friend."
Posted by: .com   2005-10-02 12:36  

#9  Here's an example (3rd paragraph) for habib from Saudi Aramco World - an online "magazine" for Aramcons.
Posted by: .com   2005-10-02 12:31  

#8  Sidiqi is the "woid" and the others I mentioned are used colloquially - at least in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the UAE - places I've spent time in, y'know, like actually physically being there and like actually talking to Arab-type people 'n stuff. That was just gromgoru being, well, gromgoru - a dyspeptic disgruntled mistral wind of long standing. For endless half-baked semi-readable often-cryptic usually-pointless seldom-informative never-conclusive samples, Google the nym within the rantburg.com domain.
Posted by: .com   2005-10-02 11:49  

#7  Want a friend? Get a dog. Whoops, that would be unislamic.
Posted by: ed   2005-10-02 11:41  

#6  So what's the woid Grom?
Posted by: Blondi   2005-10-02 10:30  

#5  No doubt Khaddafi will be holding elections to select his successor soon.
Posted by: Jineting Chuth5089   2005-10-02 08:56  

#4  #2 Nope. sadiq means righteous and habib/habibi/habub means pleasant.
Posted by: gromgoru   2005-10-02 08:12  

#3  Don't expect anyone on the left to acknowledge the linkage between Iraq and the Libyan developments. No, nada, nothing here.
Posted by: Glomorong Ebbeting2205   2005-10-02 08:05  

#2  sidiqi or sadiq or habib
Posted by: .com   2005-10-02 07:13  

#1  How do you say friend in Arabic?
Posted by: gromgoru   2005-10-02 07:02  

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