Up to half-a-million Malawians turned out to see Libyan leader Moammar Gadaffi when he travelled the 350 kilometres by road from the administrative capital Lilongwe in central Malawi, through the tiny country’s main highway to Blantyre, the commercial capital in the south, officials said on Wednesday.
”I have never seen anything like that before in Malawi. Thousands of people along the entire main road showed up to see the Libyan leader,” Willie Zingani, press secretary to Muluzi, told AFP.
Host Malawian President Bakili Muluzi accompanied Gadaffi.
Zingani, who travelled close to the 100-car convoy, said most of the people along the stretch of the road waved Libyan and Malawi flags, while many others carried portraits of the two leaders.
”It was quite a big and colourful show,” he added.
The Libyan leader was the first head of state in Malawi’s history to travel this distance by road. Even Muluzi has hardly travelled by road between the two cities since he came to power in 1994.
Driving in an open limousine, Gadaffi’s convoy took five hours to cover the distance.
Two Malawi army helicopters flew above the convoy from Lilongwe to Blantyre, in what one resident here described as the ”spectacle of the year.”
A police officer on the convoy said the Libyans took control of all security for Gadaffi’s convoy, sidelining all arrangements made by Malawi.
Gadaffi had arrived on Tuesday to a hero’s welcome at the start of his first official four day visit to the impoverished southern African state.
He was to attend a rally Wednesday at the main 60 000 seat stadium in Blantyre.
Thousands of people started trooping to the stadium as early as 6am after state radio announced that government had declared an afternoon holiday for all workers to enable them to attend the rally.
Gadaffi was to hold talks with Muluzi on bilateral issues. – Sapa-AFP