WORLD : Kadafi Admits Aiding Terrorists

Libya’s Moammar Kadafi has admitted for the first time that he sponsored international terrorism but said he stopped when he discovered the terrorists were working for themselves and not for all Arabs.

He also told Cairo’s state-owned weekly magazine Al-Mussawar, in an interview published today, that he wants no confrontation with the United States and would welcome a dialogue toward friendlier relations.

Kadafi spoke of his reversal on terrorism in reply to a question suggesting that support of “groups that practice terror in the name of revolutionary violence” may have harmed Libya.

“At one point, we supported some of these groups without meticulously examining their aims and role,” he said. “But when we discovered that these groups were causing more harm than benefit to the Arab cause, we halted our aid to them completely and withdrew our support.”