Editing Muammar Gaddafi (section)

===During the 2000's===
When [[Al-Qaeda]] perpetrated the [[September 11 attacks|September 11 terrorist attacks]] on the World Trade Center in New York City, Gaddafi publicly condemned their actions and attempted to rebuild relations with the United States.<ref>[https://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1194766,00.html Why Gaddafi's Now a Good Guy], ''Time''</ref> However, with the beginning of the War on Terror and the US' subsequent invasion of both Afghanistan and Iraq, Gaddafi rescinded his attempts to reconcile with the US, believing that this was the wrong way to handle the situation. His stance on this only got stronger as the wars dragged on through the years.

Six days after the capture of Iraqi dictator [[Saddam Hussein]] in 2003 by United States troops, Gaddafi renounced Tripoli's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs and welcomed international inspections to verify that he would follow through on the commitment.<ref name = Reign></ref> A leading advocate for the United States of Africa<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-africa-summit-gaddafi/we-can-build-united-states-of-africa-gaddafi-says-idUSTRE66Q70620100727 We can build United States of Africa, Gaddafi says], ''Reuters''</ref>, he served as Chairperson of the African Union (AU) from February 2<sup>nd</sup>, 2009 to January 31<sup>st</sup>, 2010. In August 2010, he traveled to Italy and lectured on Islam to 500 women, giving them a copy of the Qur'an. One of the attendees said that the meeting was like a kind of catechesis and that Gaddafi told her that the first step towards Islamizing Europe was Turkey's entry into the European Union.