“I’m not going to condemn him (Gadhafi),” he said. “I’d be a coward to condemn someone who has been my friend.”

The U.S. government is behind the campaign to remove Gadhafi, he added.

“The United States has already said it’s ready to invade Libya, don’t you see? And almost all the countries of Europe are condemning Libya … What do they want? They are rubbing their hands together. Oil is what’s important to them,” he said.