His name is Raffaello Fellah and he is the leader of Libya’s exiled Jewish community, which is commemorating the 40th anniversary since they were exiled from Libya.

He has been living in Italy for the past 40 years and has integrated well into Italian political life. In 1999, he was just a few votes short of being elected an MEP, coming just behind Francesco Rutelli. Later on he missed becoming a senator by just 138 votes but this opened his eyes and he stopped supporting the Left and switched to the Right, which led to his break up with his friend Walter Veltroni, the mayor of Rome, but strengthened his friendship with Giulio Andreotti, the former prime minister, with whom he met the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi several times.

The 40th anniversary of the exile was celebrated with songs and music in a Rome auditorium since the former Jewish community in Libya wants to extend the hand of peace to Libya.

Fellah says that Gaddafi is no longer an extremist and even the most extreme person must be given another chance in life. He had to do certain things only because he came to power at a time when extreme nationalism was influenced by Nasser’s pan Arabism. Having failed to get the Arabs to unite, he tried to do the same with the African nations but failed there as well.

After international sanctions were imposed as a result of the Lockerbie disaster and the differences with the USA, it was only in the past months that dialogue with the USA has resumed. This has made Gaddafi an anti-fundamentalist, especially after 9/11.

Fellah says Gaddafi must now establish good relations with Pope Benedict and foster good relations and dialogue with both Christianity and Judaism, thus becoming the Nelson Mandela of Africa.

Gaddafi is not the soldier he was in the past years, he is the leader of a dynasty and can make Libya the instrument of reconciliation and human rights, opening doors for a dialogue between the West and the Arab world and with all Islam moderates.

He should turn Libya into the door to Africa for Europe and, why should he not start planning a tunnel just like the Eurotunnel, which would link Africa to Europe through Malta and Sicily.