Tripoli - Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi on Wednesday criticised Democratic White House candidate Barack Obama for saying that Jerusalem should remain the undivided capital of Israel and said he hoped the next US president will be a man of peace.

Kadhafi, whose country is Africa's number two oil producer, also blamed US foreign policies and a weak dollar for skyrocketing oil prices, during a speech to mark the 38th anniversary of US evacuation of bases in Libya.

"The statements of our Kenyan brother of American nationality Obama on Jerusalem... show that he either ignores international politics and did not study the Middle East conflict or that it is a campaign lie," Kadhafi said.

Obama who "chose change as the theme of his campaign should have proposed real change in US policies" towards the Arabs, he said.

Obama sparked outrage among Palestinians earlier this month when he told a Jewish group in Washington that Jerusalem must remain the "undivided" capital of Israel.


Comment: Israel is illegally occupying East Jerusalem in contravention UN resolutions. The U.S. has continually vetoed any attempt by the UN to even criticize Israel over this and now Obama, obsequious before AIPAC, wants the crime set in stone.


He also pledged his "unshakable commitment to Israel's security" if he is elected president in November

Kadhafi insisted in the speech marking the US pullout of bases after the 1970 Libyan revolution, that "peace will protect Israel in the region, not arms and nuclear weapons."

"We are praying that the (next) US president will be a man of peace," he added.

Kadhafi has toned down anti-US rhetoric since his country normalised ties with Washington in 2006, two years after they were restored following a 25-year-break.

Washington renewed diplomatic links with Tripoli after Kadhafi announced in 2004 was abandoning efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction.

Kadhafi said the past conflict with Washington was due "to bad management" from both sides.

"The United States have learned their lessons and so have we," he said.

But he charged that US foreign policy, namely the US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a weak dollar are behind skyrocketing oil prices.

The United States "complain of the high cost of oil at a time but they are the guilty ones," Kadhafi said as oil prices jumped above 135 dollars a barrel on Wednesday.

Oil represents 95 percent of Libyan exports and accounts for 70 percent of gross national product.

Thanks to high prices, OPEC member Libya -- with a current output of 1.8 million barrels per day -- netted almost 40 billion dollars in oil revenue last year.