FIDE is trying to tap-dance around the recent denunciations by Libyan Olympic Committee President Mohammad Khaddafi that "We didn’t invite nor will we invite the Zionist enemy to the competition." In today's press release FIDE insists that the "LOC invitation to all WCC 2004 participants, dated 26-4-2004, is still valid."
Umm, hello? Which is it? The LOC President was quoted by the Associated Press saying "We know the Zionists will seize such occasions to enter the Arab society ... but we will not give up our principles even if that leads to canceling holding the tournament in Libya." That doesn't sound very welcome to me, or like it has anything to do with whether or not he extended a personal invitation to Israelis.
Nor does FIDE explicitly say that Israelis will be welcome to play in Tripoli, for an obvious reason: they can't because they aren't. They use the same weasel-words the Libyan invitation used. "All 128 players are welcome" when we know the only real question is whether or not the Israelis will be allowed to enter. They are hoping that by removing the Israelis from the list because they didn't send in their agreements, this dilemma will be swept under the carpet. FIDE wants to have its cake and eat it too. Or maybe that should be matzah.
