(Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Saturday he was praying for Libya's deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi and also sent a message of solidarity to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against "Yankee" aggression.
Chavez -- who has inherited Fidel Castro's mantle as Washington's main irritant in Latin America -- views the wave of uprisings in the Arab world as Western-led destabilization and has been a strong ally of Gaddafi.
"The Libyans are resisting the invasion and aggression. I ask God to protect the life of our brother Muammar Gaddafi. They're hunting him down to kill him," he said.
"No one knows where Gaddafi is, I think he went off to the desert ... to lead the resistance. What else can he do?"
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/02/us-venezuela-chavez-idUSTRE7901QW20111002