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Public officials are attempting to block Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi from staying in Englewood when he visits the U.S. to deliver an address at the U.N. General Assembly next month.

According to a Newsweek report last week, Qaddafi may reside in a Libyan-owned Englewood mansion when he visits the U.S. for the first time next month. Rep. Steven Rothman (D-N.J.), whose district includes Englewood, has been pressing the State Department and White House to prevent Qaddafi from staying at the Palisade Avenue estate.

“Qaddafi is a murderous dictator with American blood on his hands,” Rothman told The Jewish State, adding that “if the U.N. didn’t exist on American soil, there would be a strong case that Qaddafi shouldn’t be allowed on U.S. soil.” However, the U.N. charter allows even the most despicable foreign leaders to attend, Rothman added.

Qaddafi, who has been the de facto leader of the North African nation since a coup in 1969, has been a major financier of international terrorist movements, including the “Black September” movement that perpetrated the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics as well as the Palestine Liberation Organization during the intifadas.

Qaddafi was in the international spotlight once again last week after hosting a celebration for the return of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the lone man convicted in the 1988 bombing of Pan American Flight 103. Al-Megrahi returned home to Libya after being released by Scottish authorities on compassionate grounds because he is dying of cancer. The attack over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988 killed all 259 people on board the flight, including 33 individuals from New Jersey.

The mansion in question was purchased 26 years ago by the Libyan Mission to the United Nations, when Rothman was mayor of Englewood.

In accordance with the U.S. Foreign Mission Act, which regulates the property uses by foreign dignitaries, the State Department restricted the Englewood mansion for the residential purposes of the Libyan ambassador and his immediate family. The restriction stated that if others wished to visit the residence, they would be required to seek written permission from the State Department. No requests have been sought in the past 26 years, Rothman said.

State Department spokesman Fred Lasch said he was unaware of any such request by the Libyan government. “Where he’ll stay hasn’t been determined yet,” Lasch said.

According to reports, after being denied a request to set up a Bedouin-style tent in Central Park due to logistical and security concerns, Libyan officials have been considering using the Englewood mansion instead.

The Libyan embassy declined to comment on where Qaddafi would reside during his visit.

According to Rothman, the only place that Qaddafi should be allowed to stay is New York City, which receives state and federal funds to protect foreign leaders.

“The only appropriate place for foreign diplomats is New York City, New York,” he said.

Rothman said that he has been in contact with officials at the State Department and White House to ensure that Qaddafi does not come to New Jersey.

“We’re close to getting a determination as to whether the Libyan government will seek approval for Qaddafi to reside anywhere beside New York City,” he said.

On Monday, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) wrote a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, requesting that she place travel restrictions on Qaddafi’s visa, limiting him to the United Nations Headquarters District.

“Given recent events, I believe the State Department should ensure that Colonel Qaddafi’s entry into the United States is for official U.N. business only and does not allow him to travel freely. I was particularly concerned by news reports indicating that Colonel Qaddafi plans to stay in New Jersey, where the families of many Pan Am 103 victims reside,” Lautenberg wrote.

Assemblyman Gordon Johnson (D-37), said that while Libya is entitled to speak at the UN, he understands the controversy over Qaddafi’s visit.

“Anyone who is a state sponsor of terror against the U.S. or its allies is an enemy of the United States,” he said.

In addition to criticizing Qaddafi for his financing of terrorism, local officials have also protested the stay on the grounds that it would cost the town to protect him, while the 4.7-acre estate has been exempt from paying more than $1 million in property taxes.

“For them not to contribute to the property taxes over the last three decades adds insult to injury,” said Michael Wildes, the mayor of Englewood.

When asked whether Englewood had the adequate resources in the event that Qaddafi ended up staying in town, Rothman answered, “I refuse to accept the possibility that the State Department and White House will allow this to happen. I will not take no for an answer. Period.”