The World - News from March 4, 1988

Keeping a promise he made 24 hours earlier, Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi climbed aboard a bulldozer and plowed through the gates of a jail in Tripoli to free its 400 prisoners, according to a telecast monitored by the British Broadcasting Corp. Crowds were shown cheering as the flamboyant Kadafi drove the bulldozer and as prisoners--some of whom he said had plotted to assassinate him--clambered over the rubble and into a square outside the jail. “The charges against these brothers are worn out by time,” Kadafi said, adding that the accusation “against you is lack of knowledge and not treason.”