Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's eldest son, Saif al-Islam, has denounced his country's lack of press freedom. "We have no free press," he said to a cheering crowd of 15,000 youth activists in a speech that was televised. "Journalism means nothing when it's controlled and written by a limited number of people." All of Libya's media is state-owned.
The young Gaddafi - he is in his early 30s - also complained about the lack of a democratic political system, railed against "fat cats" and criticised the poor state of the health and education sectors. His demand for reforms is in line with previous speeches in which he has called for change. But the press freedom statement appears to be new. Al-Islam runs a charity group that has played a prominent role in pushing for economic modernisation and improvements in human rights. (Via za.reuters.com)
