*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) TRIPOLI, Libya - September 2, 2009: Libya has begun several days of celebrations to mark the 40th anniversary of the coup that brought Moammar Gadhafi to power.
Horsemen perform during a ceremony to celebrate the 40th anniversary since Muammar Gaddafi seized power in Libya, at former U.S. base Matega in Tripoli August 31, 2009. Military bands, 400 dancers, aerobatic planes and fireworks are set to electrify a hot and drowsy Tripoli as Muammar Gaddafi throws Libya's biggest party to mark four decades since taking power.
Green flags and white lights lined the streets of Tripoli Tuesday, and portraits of Mr. Gadhafi appeared on billboards. Musicians performed in concerts, and fighter jets flew overhead.
Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi shakes hands with Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez during the closing of the special summit on regional conflicts in Tripoli August 31, 2009.
Mr. Gadhafi invited many world leaders to attend, including Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and dignitaries already in Tripoli for an African Union meeting.
But many Western leaders invited to come stayed away.They are angry because former Libyan agent Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the only person convicted in the 1988 Lockerbie airplane bombing, received a hero's welcome when he returned to Libya last month.
A Scottish court released al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds because he is dying of cancer. Mr. Gadhafi hugged the convicted man upon his return.
The Italian Frecce Tricolori (tricoloured arrows) air acrobatic team perform in Rome in this November 9, 2008 file photo. Italy's new friendship with former colony Libya hit a hitch on September 1, 2009 when its air force jets invited to celebrate Muammar Gaddafi's 40 years in power refused to trail green smoke instead of Italy's red, white and green.
On Tuesday, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he agreed with his defense minister that Italy's renowned Tri-Color Arrow jets will only fly over Tripoli for the celebrations if they emit Italy's flag colors of red, white and green.
Italian officials say Libya wants only green smoke coming from the jets. Green is the color of Libya's flag.
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