Gadhafi's son unveils conservation plan to attract tourists to Libya
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi unveiled an ambitious plan on Monday to protect ancient Greek ruins, conserve the country's pristine Mediterranean coastline and draw eco-tourists to this former pariah state.
Seif al-Islam Gadhafi's plan is part of an attempt to dramatically change the image of Libya - to an ecologically friendly tourist destination - at a time when the country is nearing its long-sought political goal: getting into the West's good graces.
The younger Gadhafi announced the project at a lavish ceremony inside a 2,200-year-old Greek gymnasium in the ruins of the ancient city of Cyrene, one of the country's largely untouched and unvisited antiquity sites that Libya hopes will pull in foreigners.