Addressing the leaders of the five Arab Maghreb (North African) countries and Syria, Gadhafi said on Tuesday that if Europe was seeking to cooperate with the Arab and North African countries on the Mediterranean, it should do so only through the Arab League or the African Union.

"We are member states of the Arab League and the African Union, and we will not take any chances with damaging Arab or African unity," he said at a mini-summit in Tripoli. "If Europe wants to cooperate with us, let them do so through the Arab League or African Union.… We will not accept that they deal only with a small group."

Gadhafi was referring to Sarkozy's initiative union that includes 19 European and Middle Eastern nations on the Mediterranean, including Israel and the Palestinian Authority, in addition to three more: Jordan, Portugal and Mauritania.

Sarkozy's brainchild, adopted by France, Italy and Spain in a Rome summit last December, is aimed at linking Europe and Africa around the countries on the Mediterranean through cooperation, rather than integration, in the fields of energy, security, counter-terrorism, immigration and trade.

Gadhafi, who was the only one to address the meeting, convened the summit in the Libyan capital to discuss Sarkozy's proposal ahead of a broader meeting in Paris on July 13-14.

Attending the Tripoli summit were the leaders of Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia and Syria. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak did not show up, possibly to avoid Syria's President Bashar Assad, as their ties have recently been tense over a number of regional crises.

Gadhafi's rejection of the union plan came as a surprise to some Arab analysts, who had apparently predicted the Tripoli summit may have been aimed at promoting the project, rather than flatly turning it down.

"The European Union insists on its own unity and refuses to be divided; and the initiative of our dear Sarkozy has been firmly rejected by Europe," the Libyan leader said. "The Arab League will not agree either to the division of its ranks or the destruction of its unity."

An EU summit in March snubbed Sarkozy's idea and demanded broadening out the initiative to include the whole European bloc.

Gadhafi argued that the Mediterranean Union proposal was another "passing fad" similar to others that have not made progress. "All these plans have failed and died," he said, adding that promises made to non-EU Mediterranean countries for economic development projects were "bait."

"We are not starving and we are not dogs begging to be given a bone," he told his counterparts. "They are the ones in need of our oil, gas and other resources."

While the Libyan leader did not mention Israel in the proposed equation, it is believed to be one of the core issues that the plan has drawn, at best, reluctance from the aspired member states in the region.

Sarkozy, who first advanced the idea during his presidential campaign last year, indicated such a union would also help promote peace in the Middle East.

But many Arab pundits see the initiative as a political maneuver to force Arab normalization with Israel and accepting it as a natural part of the region without settling the Arab-Israeli conflict and ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian and Arab territories.

Egypt and Jordan are the only two Arab countries to have signed formal peace treaties with Israel, while Mauritania has diplomatic ties with the Jewish state. Tunisia and Morocco have lukewarm commercial ties, and have shown less reluctance toward the plan than the other Arab countries involved.

The idea of normalization with Israel is very unpopular in the Arab world, including in countries with formal treaties and ties. Joining a bloc that includes Israel is not likely to be endorsed by parliaments or civil societies.