Gaddafi urges world to follow his lead

Libya had now "decided to lead the peace movement all over the world", he told a news conference, trumpeting Tripoli's pledge to end its programmes of mass destruction, which has been hailed notably in the United States and Britain.

"Libya calls all other countries from America to China to discard and get rid of all weapons of mass destruction, programmes of mass destruction," he added. "Libya has become an example to be followed," he added.

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During his landmark visit to Brussels the maverick Libyan leader -- an international pariah until only recently -- said Tripoli and other nations now faced common enemies.

Gaddafi, clad in his trademark flowing robes and flanked by a quartet of female bodyguards, underlined the need for reconciliation.

"We need peace, stability, development. Now we are facing different and new challenges, which are common enemies to all of us ... who fought each other at some time," he said.

European Commission President Romano Prodi meanwhile hailed the latest step in Tripoli's return to the international community by saying the European Union wanted to restore formal links with Libya as rapidly as possible.

"We are committed to make Libya a full member of the Barcelona process," he said, referring to the process launched in 1995 to cement closer ties between Europe and the Mediterranean countries.

Gaddafi on Tuesday also briefly met EU foreign affairs chief Javier Solana in a blue bedouin tent set up in front of the Val Duchesse residence for visiting heads of state.

He then met Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt and was to be the guest of honour at a dinner with Belgian political and economic leaders.