"Too often contemporary opera reaches the stage prematurely," said artistic director S_an Doran. " Our number one priority is to get this right first time. The date move now gives us an extra six months producing time to achieve this"

"ENO and Asian Dub Foundation are together creating a contemporary opera that is likely to break the mould," he added. "Most of the music for Gaddafi has been completed and it is clear we now have something very special on our hands."

Still scheduled for ENO's 2005-06 season is the staged premiere of Gerald Barry's The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, based on the Fassbinder film