ROME: Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy yesterday urged the world to understand what motivates terrorists, and likened the 1986 US strikes on Libya to Osama bin Laden's terror attacks.

Khadafy, who was long accused of sponsoring terrorism, got tepid applause from the Italian lawmakers he addressed on the second day of a trip to Italy, Libya's former colonial ruler.

"It is not very intelligent to chase terrorists down the Afghan mountains or central Asia," Khadafy said in the hour-long speech. "That's impossible. We must look at their reasons."