Muammar Qaddafi has sent a message to President Obama, Reuters reports. The missive was first reported by Libyan news agency Jana, which said, “The leader of the revolution sent on Wednesday a message to US President Barack Obama after the United States withdrew from the aggressive, colonialist coalition crusading against Libya." But Jana did not elaborate on what the message said.

Update: The AP got its hands on the letter and, in true Qaddafi form, it's both rambling and tone-deaf. While requesting that Obama halt the NATO-led air campaign in Libya, Qaddafi wished the president good luck on his 2012 re-election campaign. 

“We have been hurt more morally (than) physically because of what had happened against us in both deeds and words by you,” he wrote. “Despite all this you will always remain our son whatever happened. We still pray that you continue to be president of the U.S.A. We Endeavour [sic] and hope that you will gain victory in the new election campaigne [sic].”

The AP notes that the letter includes "numerous spelling and grammatical errors" written in "formal but stilted English."

In another portion of the three-page letter, Qaddafi calls Obama "our son" and his "excellency" in a seemingly sincere bid to dissuade him from his current policy trajectory.

“You are a man who has enough courage to annul a wrong and mistaken action,” Qaddafi wrote. “I am sure that you are able to shoulder the responsibility for that."

"To serving world peace ... Friendship between our peoples ... and for the sake of economic, and security cooperation against terror, you are in a position to keep Nato (NATO) off the Libyan affair for good,” he said.

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John Hudson
Elspeth Reeve