Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi will stop in St. John's, N.L. after leaving the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York City, the prime minister's office has said.

Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon has been asked to meet with Gadhafi while he's on Canadian soil, to voice concerns regarding Libya's treatment of the Lockerbie bomber.

"Prime Minister Harper has asked Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon to go to St. John's and meet the Libyan leader," Dimitri Soudas, a spokesperson for the prime minister's office, said in a statement.

"Minister Cannon will voice Canada's strong disapproval over the hero's welcome organized for Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the man responsible for the Lockerbie terrorist bombing."

Soudas underlined that it's not an official visit, and that transatlantic flights often stop to refuel in Newfoundland and Labrador.

It's also unclear whether Gadhafi will agree to the meeting.

Last month, the Libyan government staged a grandiose celebration to welcome home al-Megrahi, the only person to be convicted in the Lockerbie bombing.

Al-Megrahi was released from a Scottish prison in August on compassionate grounds, because he has terminal cancer. His high-profile reception in Libya "constituted an insult to all the victims who died including Canadians," the prime minister's office said Thursday.

Three Canadians were aboard the doomed plane, which exploded above the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988, killing 270 people.

The Libyan leader is returning from his first appearance before the UN General Assembly. While there, he delivered an unprecedented 96 minute speech that rambled from one topic to another.

Gadhafi seized power in Libya four decades ago in a military coup. Since then he has become known as much for his eccentric personality as his political office.

He has been an international pariah for much of his political career. After the Sept.11, 2001 attacks, however, Gadhafi publicly renounced his support for terrorism and moved to rekindle ties with the West.