LIONEL RICHIE MENGGOYANG TRIPOLI

Lionel Richie Performs in Tripoli All Night Long, Says: 'I had a Great Time, I will be Back'

17/05/2006

With the Leader of the Revolution's home as a backdrop, the American singer Lionel Richie jived and rocked for an adoring audience on Saturday 15 April 2006 in a concert to mark the 20th anniversary of a US raid on Libya.

"Libya I love you, I'll be back," the Oscar and Grammy award-winning singer songwriter said to roars of approval from more than 1,000 senior Libyan officials and diplomats gathered in front of the shell-cratered building.

"Hana would be happy tonight," said Richie during his performance, referring to the adopted daughter of the Leader who was among the over 40 slain in the 1986 air strikes on the cities of Tripoli and Benghazi. One member of the audience climbed on stage to dance with Richie, whose hits All Night

Long, Say You, Say Me, and Dancing On The Ceiling were being heavily played on US radio airwaves around the time Washington ordered the strike.
Richie was followed by Spanish opera stars Jose Carreras and Ofelia Sala who belted through a selection of classic favorites backed by 60-piece orchestra under a cloudless night sky.

Egyptian singer Mohammed Munir and folklore troupes from Egypt and Syria also participated in the festival.

Radiating charm and wit, Richie brought the soberly dressed audience repeatedly to its feet with a succession of his greatest hits, persuading them to sing along and dance.
He won laughs when he joked that some in the audience knew the words to his songs better than he did, and drew shouts of "thank you" and "we love you" from some in the crowd.

Richie, a former Commodores singer who co-wrote with Michael Jackson the number-one hit We Are The World in 1985, told a press conference his presence in Libya was a "historic event," and said he took part because "music unites people".
The concert was named "Hana Peace Day" in honor of the child, one of several infants killed in the strike.

The concert was held in Bab Al-Azizia barracks near the ruins of the Leader of the Revolution's residence, targeted by the attacks that have never been removed so to remain a material witness to what the Libyans believe was a blatant aggression against their country.

"We will not forget but we do not want to be hostages of the past," a concert organizer told AFP. "We want to live in the present and express through our music our renewed union with the world," he added.

The event ended with a group of children dressed as angels standing on a balcony of the house and waving candles as they sang along to a recording of the US humanitarian pop anthem "We are the world".
During the Reagan administration, American forces bombed Tripoli and Benghazi in the early hours of April 15, 1986.

Then President Ronald Reagan said it was in retaliation for what he called Libyan complicity in the bombing of a discotheque in Berlin a month earlier.

Organizers said the music provided a deliberately upbeat commemoration of the 1986 raid, an event that marked one of the lowest points in the decades Libya spent being seen as an outlaw state that supported terrorism.

However, it was Ms. Aisha Muammar Al-Qathafi, the daughter of the Libyan leader, who officially opened the concert by a short but state to the point statement. She said:
“I welcome you with the greetings of Islam: ‘As-salam A'aliakum wa Rahmatu Allahi wa Barakatuhi’".

"Peace be upon our gracious land. Peace be upon all world peace delegates who shared with us this day." “Please allow me to invite you for a moment of salience on the souls of our martyrs who were killed at the hands of the enemies of peace,” she said.

“Today I stand in front of this steadfast home in which "Today, I stand before this resilient house, where twenty years ago my childhood was torn apart and my toys and childhood's dreams were destroyed,” said Ms. Aisah, at the opening of the concert, which began on Saturday at 2.30am, the exact hour at which US warplanes flying out of British bases hit their targets 20 years ago," she added.

Ms. Al-Qathafi, currently a lawyer, was about 10 at the time of the attack.
"Twenty years ago on this day I awoke to the sound of bombs and rockets and the cries of my brothers. My memory never forget, nor history will ever erase it. But today we try to heal our wounds and shake hands with those who are here with us tonight. Yes for peace, no for destruction," she said.”

The superstar Richie started by a statement:
“It is an honor for me to be here with you tonight. This is my first time ever to be here in Libya. I would like to say to you, it was an opportunity for me to walk in the streets, I must tell you that I would return to this country, I promise you. People were wonderful, we spent a wonderful time. Hospitality is unbelievable. I recommend you to explore this beautiful world in Libya. This night is wonderful honor for Hana whose name is linked to peace."

(The Tripoli Post)