The leaders of Venezuela and Libya are calling for a new global definition of terrorism.
Hugo
Chavez and Moammar Gadhafi signed the declaration during a rally Monday
on Venezuela's Margarita Island. The document says both nations reject
efforts to "link the legitimate struggle" of people for "liberty and
self-determination" with terrorism.
Both leaders have been
accused of supporting and harboring terrorists. The United States and
Colombia have charged that Mr. Chavez has aided the leftist insurgent
group FARC, which has been waging a long civil war against Colombia.
Libya
has been condemned for playing a role in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am
Flight 103 over Lockerbee, Scotland, which killed 270 people, including
38 Americans.
But Mr. Gadhafi has sought to
improve relations with the West after he abandoned his country's
weapons of mass destruction program.
Mr. Gadhafi was in
Venezuela to attend a two-day summit of leaders from South America and
Africa. The officials vowed to increase cooperation in such areas as
defense, finance, trade, energy and agriculture.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
