Security Council doesn't work Gadhafi tells U.N.

Security Council doesn't work Gadhafi tells U.N.
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi on Wednesday denounced the structure of the U.N. Security Council, criticizing the permanent seats and veto power granted to a limited number of nations.

 Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly's annual debate session, Gadhafi called for world unity in confronting global crises such as climate change and food shortages.

But he elaborated on what he believes is the unfairness of the structure of the Security Council, which has five permanent members -- the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain. Each of those nations has veto power.

"No one is objecting to the preamble [of the U.N. charter], but everything that came after that is contradiction of the preamble," he said through an interpreter. "The preamble says the nations are equal whether they are small or big. Are we equal in permanent seats? No, we're not equals.
 Citing the history of colonization and persecution of Africans, he said there needs to be a permanent African presence on the body, calling that a "priority" for the United Nations.
General Assembly speakers*
Ban Ki-moon, secretary-general of the United Nations

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, president of Brazil

Barack Obama, president of the United States

Moammar Gadhafi, leader of Libya

Nicolas Sarkozy, president of France

Gordon Brown, prime minister of the United Kingdom

Hu Jintao, president of China

Dmitry Medvedev, president of Russia

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of Iran

*abridged list

He also said that despite the fact that the United Nations says there should be no resorting to military force unless it is a collective decision, 65 wars broke out after the establishment of the United Nations, and the Security Council didn't do anything to stop the conflicts.

Gadhafi said the Security Council hasn't provided security, but "terror and sanctions."

He slammed U.S. military actions in places like Korea, Vietnam, and Grenada. He called the invasion of Iraq "the mother of all evils," criticizing the hanging of deposed leader Saddam Hussein and the abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

He also said there should be investigations into many incidents, such as the Afghan war, the massacre at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camp during the Lebanese civil war, Israel's Gaza offensive, and the killings in the 1960s of former President John F. Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King.

Gadhafi also broached the idea of taking the U.N. headquarters out of the United States and putting it in another location.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and President Obama made speeches before Gadhafi.