In a second address that displayed he was digging into his position yesterday, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi blamed the recent bloody protests in his country on the effect of hallucinogenic drugs distributed by al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. On Libyan State Television, the 68-year-old leader said of the protesters: “once they drink these pills, they let them go out on the streets and start committing criminal acts. The requests are not theirs – the requests come from Bin Laden.” Also on Thursday, Gadhafi’s youngest son joined the pro-democracy movement, while his cousin – and close aide – defected to Egypt. Are these signs that the autocratic leader is losing grip on his nearly 42 years of power? The New York Times’ David Kirkpatrick reports from the Libyan border on the armed rebellion, which is nearing Tripoli. For more we speak with Laurence Pope a former US ambassador to Chad. Pope served in Libya from 1974-1976 and is a former political advisor at the US Central Command.
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