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Libya: From "Rogue State" to "Must Visit"
Despite being branded by George W as a "rogue state" in his 2002 addendum to the ridiculous "Axis Of Evil", the North African country of Libya is on fast forward to become one of the Middle East's prime destinations for curious and wordly travellers. And leading the way is a son of hardline Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
The 33-year old Saif al-Islam Gaddafi recently outlined a massive proposal to put Libya firmly on the tourist trail and in direct competition with burgeoning super cities like Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The focus of the development is the ancient city of Cyrene, reckoned by archeological whizzes to be one of the best preserved of ancient Greek and Roman sites. Attractions already include the Temple of Apollo and the partially excavated Temple of Zeus, and there are now plans for more than 20 luxury hotels and thousands of houses to surround the ruins on Libya's northeast Mediterranean coast.
Apparently developers are striving for a clean, green image, but with so much development occuring it will be a fine balancing act.
Via Telegraph Group Ltd and thanks to h_savill on Flickr for the pic of the Temple of Zeus.
Filed under: Arts and Culture, History, Libya, Hotels and Accommodations, Ecotourism
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Boris Sep 12th 2007 8:17PM
Libya is not in Middle East.
Justin Glow Sep 12th 2007 8:21PM
Defining regions is very subjective. That said, Wikipedia notes: "North African nations without Asian links, such as Libya, Tunisia and Algeria, are increasingly being called North African — as opposed to Middle Eastern (Pakistan to Egypt-Asia) — by international media outlets. However, North African countries can also be considered part of the Middle East."
I think it's fair to place Libya in the "Middle East" region.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East#Geography
Brett Atkinson Sep 12th 2007 8:27PM
interesting debate - certainly crossed my mind when I was typing it, but culturally and linguistically Libya definitely has more in common with Middle Eastern Arab states than the rest of Africa...
Sharon Bobbitt Sep 15th 2007 12:21PM
This rising STAR is located in Maghrabia or the Mahgreb
Region, North Africa. It is becoming a very important
business center as well as being involved in solving world crisis such as what is happening in SUDAN and the newest plague, terrorism.
SharonB