THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: The Libyan Government has pitched a tent in suburban New York that leader Muammar Gaddafi may use for entertaining, a US State Department official said.
And it appears the property was rented from Donald Trump.
The State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of diplomatic sensitivity and protocol concerns, said the property was obtained for the duration of this weeks' United Nations General Assembly. The official said no one would be staying there overnight.
No-parking signs were going up near Trump's Seven Springs estate in Bedford, about 69 kilometres north of Manhattan, where residents include Martha Stewart and Ralph Lauren.
TV helicopters showed a tent on the Trump property. Police would not comment and Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan would say only that the agency did not discuss the schedules or logistics of people it was protecting.
As word got out, local officials quickly objected to Gaddafi's anticipated presence. Gaddafi, who arrived in New York on Tuesday, will most likely face protests over Scotland's recent release of Libyan Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, who was convicted of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which killed 270 people.
The Trump Organisation said Gaddafi would not be coming to Trump's estate and insisted that Trump has not rented property to the Libyan. But it said part of the estate "was leased on a short-term basis to Middle Eastern partners, who may or may not have a relationship to Mr Gaddafi. We are looking into the matter". >>> AP | Wednesday, September 23, 2009
