Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi attends a ceremony marking the birth of Islam’s Prophet Mohammed in Tripoli, February 13, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Ismail Zitouny

By Frank Jack Daniel

Reuters) – The government of President Hugo Chavez denied on Monday reports Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was traveling to Venezuela following violent protests in the fellow OPEC member nation.

Attracted to Gaddafi’s revolutionary past, the socialist Chavez also casts himself as an anti-U.S. stalwart on the international stage, and the pair enjoy warm ties.
Adding to media rumors, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said earlier on Monday he had seen information to suggest Gaddafi had fled Libya and was on his way to the South American oil-exporting nation.
The Venezuelan government “denies such information,” a senior government source told Reuters.
He added it was unlikely the leader who has ruled Libya for more than 40 years would come to Venezuela.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/21/us-libya-venezuela-idUSTRE71K40R20110221