Zuwayy knew it was going to be a long and wasted day the moment Salaam stepped up to the microphone and the crowd saw it was her-they cheered for five minutes straight even before she uttered a single word.
The erstwhile king of Libya waited patiently for the cheering for Salaam to die down; when it was obvious it was not going to do so right away, Zuwayy signaled his Director of Arab Unity, Juma Mahmud Hijazi, to call for order-and it made it doubly embarrassing for Zuwayy when the crowd virtually ignored Hijazi's request. A sound technician finally had to inject some feedback into the sound system, and the loud squeal reverberating through the stadium finally helped to silence the crowd. Zuwayy read his welcoming remarks quickly, without any passion, and got off the dais as quickly as he could.
The members of the audience and those watching around the world who expected Susan Bailey Salaam to give one of her impassioned, fervent speeches on peace, freedom, prosperity, and unity among the Muslim nations might have been disappointed. Susan's speech lasted only a few short seconds-but she could not have uttered any more important or rousing words than the ones she chose that afternoon.
Susan stepped up to the microphone, waited a few moments for the cheers and shouting to subside, then touched her forehead with the fingertips of both hands, took a deep breath, and sang, "Ash-Hadu anla elaha illa-allah wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan rasul-Allah! I bear witness that there is none truly to be worshiped but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah."
The crowd burst into insane cheering and applause. Susan raised her hands and repeated the words of the Shahada, the testimony of faith, but her words, even atnplified, were easily drowned out by the cheering crowd.
Zuwayy was thunderstruck. She had done it: She had stolen this conference, this demonstration of his power, cleanly away from him. He might as well have closed the ceremonies and given her the mantle of presidency.
It was not until after the closing ceremonies that Zuwayy could finally see her alone in his palace office. He meant to have her wait for him in his office to at least try to reassert some control in their discussions, but since the media had followed Salaam to this meeting, Zuwayy had to make a show of welcoming her to his palace and showing her some of its antiques, treasures, and artifacts of Libyan history.
He quickly dropped all pretext of friendship with her once they were alone in his office. "So, Mrs. Salaam, you've had quite a week here. You have the entire world eating out of your hand." Minister of Arab Unity Hijazi and Chief of the General Staff Tahir Fazani were also on hand with Zuwayy; General Ahmad Baris, Salaam's defense minister, and Captain Amina Shafik, Susan's new chief of staff, accompanied her.
"I think it was a most successful conference, Your Highness," Salaam said, "thanks to you and your staff"
"No, no, no-I think the credit all goes to you, Madame President," Zuwayy retorted irritably. "Everywhere I went I heard cries of 'Republic! Republic!' and 'Queen Susan!' You must be very pleased with your newfound popularity, Madame."
"I am proud and happy that our people are starting to think and speak as one, Your Highness," Salaam said, wearing her most diplomatic smile and tone of voice.
"I'm happy that you're happy, 'Queen' Salaam," Zuwayy said.
Susan's smile never dimmed-but Ahmad Baris's eyes narrowed in concern. "Have we done something to offend you, Highness?" he asked.
"Of course not," Zuwayy replied curtly. He looked as if he was going to sit at his desk, but swung the chair out of his way and continued to pace around his desk. "But it seems I'm being forced to remind a lot of folks here this week that the Muslim Brotherhood doesn't seek a republic. Our purpose is not to form one nation or even a federation of nations. Our purpose, Madame, is to assist Arab governments in forming and maintaining a Shura, a government based on Islamic law. We don't want to go through the trouble of erasing centuries of history for our member nations-we only want to encourage and assist governments in embracing Muslim holy law in its activities. Do you understand, Madame?"
"Yes, Highness," Susan replied. "I understand perfectly." She did not take her eyes off him, and the smile remained as well, which only served to make Zuwayy angrier. "Is there something specific you wished of me, Highness?"
"Wish? What do I wishl I'll tell you what I wish, Queen Salaam!"
"What His Highness is trying to say, Madame President," Juma Hijazi interjected, glancing at Zuwayy, hoping that he could keep his anger in check for just a few more minutes, "is that His Highness is still waiting for a conclusion to the contract between yourself and the Central African Petroleum Partners for the kingdom's share of the partnership. As you remember, Madame, you said that in exchange for His Highness's support during your elections, the kingdom would receive a one-third share of the partnership-"
"It wasn't one-third, Minister, it was thirty percent," General Baris interjected.
"One-third, thirty percent-it's all the same damn thing," Zuwayy retorted.
"You're right, General-it was thirty percent," Hijazi said. "But the fact is, the agreement has not been concluded. Egypt has graciously and effectively opened its borders to many Arab nations and instituted the work visa program in record time, which has helped ten of thousands of workers from all over the Arab world. It is a shining example of the spirit of cooperation that we hope to continue."
"Thank you, Minister."
"But what about the rest of it?" Zuwayy interjected hotly. "Part of the deal was a third of the partnership, a third of the revenues. We haven't seen a dinar yet. If you try to back out of the deal now, Salaam, you'll find yourself at the bottom-"
"Do you have some explanation for the delay, Madame Salaam?" General Fazani interjected before Zuwayy could threaten Salaam's life right in front of witnesses.
"I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation, Majesty," Baris offered.
"Yeah? What is it, Baris?"
"Perhaps it is that you haven't paid for it yet, Majesty," Susan said. Her smile never wavered, but her eyes suddenly lit up in slow-burning anger.
"Paid for it?"
"Majesty, the CAPP cartel invested a total of three point six billion U.S. dollars toward the project," Baris said. "Egypt has promised in writing to grant the kingdom of Libya one-third of its shares in the partnership, but only if Libya agreed to purchase one-fourth of the shares owned by the cartel. That requires an investment by the kingdom of Libya of nine hundred million U.S. dollars."
"What? You expect me to pay a bunch of fat-cat Western oil companies almost a billion dollars for oil that belongs to me?"
Hijazi couldn't stop Zuwayy from stating his claim to the Salimah oil fields, but both Salaam and Baris pretended not to notice what he said. "I think what His Highness is saying, Madame," Hijazi interjected, "is that perhaps we can come to some sort of accommodation."
"What's that?"
"Allow us to pay our fee to the cartel out of our share of the oil revenues," Hijazi said. "It can be paid over, say, five years-they can take it right off the top of our share. We will even agree to pay a reasonable interest rate-it can be a loan of sorts, secured with the oil revenues from Salimah."
Susan paused for a moment, then nodded. "I don't think the Central African Petroleum Partners cartel would object, Minister," Susan said.
Hijazi and Fazani breathed long sighs of relief, smiled, and nodded at each other. "That's good news, Madame President. I think that we-"
"But I object," Susan added.
The Libyan ministers' mouths dropped open. Zuwayy was stunned-he couldn't believe what he had just heard. To the Libyan ministers' surprise, they noticed that even Ahmad Baris had a shocked look on his face. "Madame President, you… you are saying you will not accept a payment option based on our revenues? I don't understand."