Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's appeal to hundreds of glamorous Italian hostesses to renounce Catholicism and convert to Islam has fallen on fertile ground after some of his guests agreed to consider becoming Muslims.

Of the 400 young women who were asked to two events hosted by the Libyan leader in Rome this week, a few said they were interested in travelling to Tripoli or even Mecca to consider becoming Muslims.

"Islam used to frighten me, now it fascinates me. I don't know how my mum will take it – her name's Maria de Lourdes, so you get the idea that she is a staunch Catholic," she told the newspaper Corriere della Sera.

"For me, Islam was always associated with the concept of the submission of women. The other evening there was fear among the girls that we would all end up in a harem," added Miss Ribeiro, whose family is originally from the former Portuguese colony of Sao Tome and Principe, off the coast of West Africa.

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