The rise and fall of Colonel Muamar Gadaffi

[Uwezo Tunao]

Ijue Familia ya Kanali Gaddafi kwa Sura na Maelezo Mafupi

Africa's 'King of Kings' Muammar Gaddafi with a virgin from the Amazonian Guards protecting him behind

The next to go? The Middle East has seen a wave of people's revolutions which has forced out two Western-supported dictators with a taste for black hair dye and outlandish, 'caring' wives with subliminal political ambitions and sticky fingers when it comes to their fiefdom's wealth - Tunisia and Egypt, while other Arab countries, in particular Bahrain, have been rocked by huge protests whose outcome only should result in a well-needed change to their country's political environment. The latest country to gain the most media coverage for its public protests against the ruling clique is Libya.

Since 1969 Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has ruled Libya with an iron fist and a varied wardrobe, though curiously he holds no posts (neither did China's Deng Xiaoping in the later years of his life, but he was the one pulling the strings).

Nevertheless, in Libya you are left with no doubt who is in charge as Gaddafi has an all-pervasive cult of personality, with his face peering down from billboards, posters and other tacky merchandise throughout the country.

Much has been written about his often eccentric rule of this large north African country of 6 million people, ranging from 'the Green Book' (the Gaddafi-penned ideology that 'guides' Libyan politics, providing a 'third way' between capitalism and communism), his bevvy of female bodyguards and his bizarre behaviour on overseas trips, such as the lecture he held for a group of Italian models (who were all tested for HIV prior to attending) urging them to convert to Islam.

Gaddafi has been to Americans their caricature of a goofball dictator. So much so was he the pariah de jeur of the 1980s that even in the 1985 film 'Back To The Future' there is reference to 'Libyan terrorists', something that sounds a bit out-of-tune these days.

 

[Uwezo Tunao]

Gaddafi, in a daring outfit, with the gals from the guard

​

Here on this thread, we like to focus on the more juicy, gossipy and, ultimately, more 'human' side to these dictators. 'Human' here is not referring to the initial, positive images most people have for the term.

Oh no, these dictators are human in that they are delusional, wanting attention and crave to be loved - all very human traits.

They also use their positions of power to their own and family's gain, much like any human would in such circumstances.

What brings them down though is that they hypocritically portray themselves at one with the masses that in practice they show such disdain for.

 

[Uwezo Tunao]

Mama! Sadiya, matriach to a bunch of misfits

So what are the Gaddafis like? Well, Muammar does have an extensive family and its pretty hard keeping up with his mini-mes (idadi chafu ya 'vidumu' uswahilini).

In all, he acknowledges to have fathered eight children - seven sons and a daughter. And if you are familiar with any of the other desperate dictators featured in this blog, then it will come as no heart-breaking shock that the kids have done remarkably well for themselves, to varying degrees.

Naturally, it's this sense of over-entitlement which forms the basis for some resentment (Mikogo ya watoto wa vigogo) towards them from the Libyan masses and wider.

As one US State Department official stated in a cable, "[Gaddafi's offspring's] repeated falls from grace highlight the broad gulf between average Libyans, who view the al-Qadhafi family as unsophisticated upstarts from a historically inconsequential part of the country (Sirte - southern Libya) who routinely embarrass Libya, and senior regime officials, who view the state as an extension of the al-Qadhafi family empire".

So let's go through the kid list and their 'achievements'.

The eldest son, Muhammad, was born to a wife of Muammar's who is no longer in favour (mbona ka wa kwetu huku vile??). That rules him out of taking over the mantle any time.

In any case, he has been given a cushy alternative job - head of the Libyan Olympic Committee (hmmm... just like Mubarak's brother-in-law in Egypt).

And we all know how above the board those IOC members are... Anyway, he has his hands in some murky businesses too.

 

[Uwezo Tunao]

MTOTO WA KWANZA KWA KANALI GADDAFI KWA MKE WA KWANZA ALIYEACHIKA

Muhammed Gaddafi (left) with the wacko prez of Kalmykia, chess nut Ilyumzhinov

Ni huyu kijana mpole asiyeniga tai ;lakini ambaye ujumbe usiofichika usoni mwake unaonyesha huzuni usiosameheka kurukwa na Baba kwenye kutokudhaminiwa saana na hata kutofikirika kushika kwenye ramani ya kurithishwa uongozi wa Libya.

The eldest son, Muhammad, was born to a wife of Muammar's who is no longer in favour. That rules him out of taking over the mantle any time.

In any case, he has been given a cushy alternative job - head of the Libyan Olympic Committee (hmmm... just like Mubarak's brother-in-law in Egypt). And we all know how above the board those IOC members are...

Anyway, he has his hands in some murky businesses too.

 

[Uwezo Tunao]

MWANA WA PILI NA LULU KWA GADDAFI (WA KWANZA KWA MAMA YAKE HAPO JUU),
MSOMI SANA, NA RAIS MDOGO WA LIBYA KWA HAKI YA KUZALIWA
(KUPITIA MLANGO WA NYUMA)

Like father, like son. Saif Al-Islam is one to shine in traditional couture

The next in line (literally) is Saif al-Islam, a 39 year old architect (PhD hplder) by trade, but very much a public political figure in Libya.

He has recently shot to even greater prominence with his defiant but rambling speech he gave against the Libyan anti-government demonstrators, where he blamed the disturbances on everyone from foreign infiltrators (well, the US have used that line with Iraq and Afghanistan for ages, so why not?) to Israel (of course, perhaps the sharks were sent there too) to 'drunkards' (alcohol being strictly forbidden in Libya) and warned of impending civil war.

Saif al-Islam has in the past voiced his criticisms of the shortcomings of the Libyan system.

As a US State Department cable published by WikiLeaks shows, in 2008 Saif made a big song and dance about how he was frustrated with his father's system, called for reforms much in line with those now demanded by demonstrators throughout the country, and that he was considering withdrawing from public office.

A very public (and a little too well organised) response to this threat came from the masses appealing Saif al-Islam to reconsider.

Alas, he reluctantly, probably weepingly, returned to continue his revolutionary work - oh, isn't he so selfless and humble! But Saif al-Islam has a weakness - hunting, and travelling to far-flung places to take a shot at game.


He saw in 2010 in a small town in rural New Zealand, only for a couple of weeks later to be in western Algeria, on both occasions for hunting trips.

However, his public image up to now has been quite staid and boring compared to the behaviour of his younger siblings.

Some, including US diplomats, have concluded that this could be a way of presenting the heir-apparent as more educated and cultured... by comparison.

Saif Al-Islam: Let me put you to sleep with one of my speeches

 

[Uwezo Tunao]

MTOTO WA TATU KWA KANALI GADDAFI NA NYOTA 'MCHAWI'
MSAKATA KABUMBU WA KIMATAIFA

Any guesses which one is Saadi?

Ni miongoni mwao KUNDI LA WATOTO 'FRIJI-OPEN', MAYAI, 'BRAIN-ZERO' NA MCHECHETO FUNGA-KAZI na wenye mtihani mkubwa kuishi kwa akili za kisera ambao naye Kanali Gaddafi amejaliwa na Mwenyezi Mungu akawasimamie kwa udhibiti ule ule wa kijeshi kwa taifa la Libya pale nyumbani kwake bila mapigo ya moyo kubadilika mwendo kila wakati.

And so who are the wild kids... you know the type - the ones likely to drive off cliffs in their pink Lamborghinis. Well, known to those into football (soccer) is third eldest son Saadi.

He is a tiptop soccer star no less, married to the daughter of a military commander, was once captain of the Libyan national team, runs the Libyan Football Federation (yes, neither is FIFA corrupt... hehe) and has been signed for various professional teams including Italian Serie A team U.C. Sampdoria, although without appearing in first team games.

Rumour has it that Saadi was only signed up to curry up Gaddafi senior in providing generous concessions to Italian companies to invest in Libya and the like (extensive arms sales, in particular).

He has been caught for doping and last year was ordered by an Italian court to pay 392,000 euros to a luxurious hotel for doing a runner after a month long stay in summer 2007.

Saadi also had ambitious but rather crazy plans to create Libya's very own Hong Kong on the country's border with Tunisia, and has his hands in the Libya's oil wealth.

All this and he's not even 40 years old!

 

[Uwezo Tunao]

DOGO BANGI MWINGINE, MKUU WA MATUMIZI SAWA NA SAADI HAPO JUU,
MFALME WA VILEO, SIGARA NA VIMWNA NI HUYU MTOTO WA NNE
KWA KANALI AMBAYE NDIYE MKUU WA USALAMA WA TAIFA
LA LIBYA NA KIKOSI MAALUM CHA MAKOMANDOO

Mutassim (with cigarette) partying like its... erm ... 2010 in St Bart's

Next in line for disgrace is Gaddafi's fourth son and 'National Security Advisor' (the same role Lukashenka in Belarus has for his son) - Mutassim.

He spent a few years in Egypt following an internal leadership dispute, where he cultivated close links with the ruling elite there, including Omar Suleiman, Mubarak's intelligence chief and current prime minister.

Mutassim is not shy of making the bold fashion statement and is one for a big booze up. While older bro was in NZ on the hunt, Mutassim held a 'quiet soiree' on St Bart's in the Caribbean to bring the new year, as he customarily does every year as of late.

At the 2009 bash, no less than Beyoncé and Usher were called in to provide the music, and copious amounts of alcohol was on hand. La Beyoncé went home that night 1.2 million dollars richer. Mere pocket change!

Mutassim was surprised that his festivities garnered the attention it did, with photos of the event splashed across tabloid papers worldwide, including the UK's Daily Mail which you can check out here.

That placed yet another nail into his supposed rival bid for the throne from his elder, hunting brother. Actually, Mutassim's new year's bash at the Nikki Beach club on St Bart's is has been a hot ticket now for years!

Enrique Iglesias performed in 2005 after his squeeze Anna Kournikova befriended the Gaddafi crew, so she convinced the Spanish heart throb to sing for a six-figure sum! Parteeee!

I'm sure that Mutassim was thinking about Libya's security the whole time though...

 

[Uwezo Tunao]

HUYU MTOTO WA 5 KWA KANALI MWENYE MWONEKANO WA KINABII NI ZAIDI YA TSUNAMI KATIKA FAMILIA ZIMA. HANNIBAL SIO TU KWAMBA NI MKOROFI MWISHO WA RELI KIGOMA BALI
ZAIDI NI KIWEMBE LIHARIBIFU NA KITIMTIM KWA VIMWANA AMBAYE MZAZI YEYOTE
MWENYE MABINTI HATOPENDA HATA KUONA SURA YAKE, MATAWI MTANASHATI,
'BRAIN-ZERO', 'MTOTO FRIJI OPEN', MTESAJI WASICHANA WA KAZI, MFALME
WA VILEO NA VIVUTIWA LAKINI MWENYE WEZO MDOGO KUDHIBITI HAMU YAKE YA KULA.

Hannibal lists his interests as beating his wife, smoking and reckless driving

But these earlier guys are lightweights compared to son number 5 - Hannibal (yes, really!) He's the type of guy any parent has warned their daughter from.

He is spoilt and lives life to the maxxtreme with a significant degree of impunity. According to one US State Department cable, one of his 'hobbies' (OK, more of the wife's hobby) is terrorising the hired help, so a pair up with Naomi Campbell would a match made in hell.

Actually, just have a read through this cable and be sure to lift your jaw back into your mouth afterwards. Juicy details are given of his arrest in Switzerland in 2008.

Hannibal's lurid past, and the consequence of his actions have caused him to supposedly be 'living in fear from his father' ever since include: assaulting Italian police officers in Rome 2001 with a fire extinguisher.

He attacked police in Paris after being stopped for speeding on the wrong side of the Champs-Élysées and going through a series of red lights while pissed as a newt in 2004; and receiving a four-year suspended prison sentence from a French court after beating his pregnant girlfriend, the model Aline Skaf, who refused to let him into their hotel room in 2005.

Hannibal was banned from traveling to the European Schengen zone between 2005 and 2008, however he successfully obtained a visa from the Swiss Embassy in Tripoli in February 2008.

Of course, after being arrested by the Swiss authorities after two of his staff complained of being physically beaten, Hannibal complained of having been treated terribly; though as a chain smoker, he was allowed to smoke in his secured room when Swiss law explicitly bans any smoking inside public buildings.

Hannibal's arrest provoked a giant diplomatic spat between the land of cuckoo clocks and the land of the cuckoo leader. Gaddafi senior even called for Switzerland to be conquered and carved up by its neighbours!

Eventually, Libya's oil spoke louder and Hannibal and wife were freed and all restored to normal.

Aline Hannibal Qaddafi, the wife.

Not that Hannibal learnt much from the experience except that he gets it his way. His fetish for terrorising again was focused on his wife, according to another US state department cable.

Hannibal had physically abused his wife, Aline, in a London hotel room over Christmas 2009. The US Embassy in Tripoli was told that Aline had threatened to leave Hannibal a few weeks before the incident and had fled to London.

When Safiya, Hannibal's mother, heard the news, she pleaded with Aline by phone to return to Tripoli, promising to give her "whatever she desired," in exchange. Hannibal pursued Aline in London, and the encounter ended in assault.

When mama Safiya and Hannibal's sister, Ayesha al-Qadhafi (at that time many months' pregnant - more to come about her), heard the news, Ayesha traveled to London to intervene.

Both Qadhafi women - Safiya by phone and Ayesha in person - advised Aline to report to the police that she had been hurt in an "accident," and not to mention anything about abuse.

London press reported that Hannibal was allowed to leave the UK discreetly, on diplomatic immunity. So are you wondering what Aline looks like? Well, look no further...

 

[Uwezo Tunao]

HUYU NI BADO NI MKAMWANA ALINE SKAF HANNOBIL AMBAYE NAYE MBALI NA KUWA NYOTA WA KIMATAIFA KATIKA ULIMWENGU WA KIARABU NAYE PIA NI MTOTO BANGI MWNGINE AMBAYE
HAJUI KABISA KITU KUVAA KIISLAMU, KUCHAGUA AONEKANE VIMBI MBELE YA FAMILIA
NYUMBANI, MREMBO WA UMBO NAYEJIHISI MUDA WOTE MLIMBWENDE WA DUNIA

Something to wear when meeting the parents

Aline Skaf Hannobil

 

[Eqlypz]

'Plan a) to live and die in Libya b) to live and die in Libya c) to live and die in Libya' - Muammar Ghaddafi.

 

[Askari Kanzu]

U.S. to impose sanctions on Libya, cuts ties


Reuters – President Barack Obama speaks about Libya from the White House in Washington February 23, 2011. REUTERS/Kevin …

By Ross Colvin and Alister Bull Ross Colvin And Alister Bull
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States announced on Friday it was imposing sanctions on Libya and bluntly said the legitimacy of its longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi had been "reduced to zero."

White House spokesman Jay Carney did not specify what the restrictive measures were or when they would be imposed but said the sanctions would be coordinated with European allies.

The Obama administration said earlier this week it was studying a wide range of options, including the freezing of assets, a travel ban on members of Gaddafi's government, a "no-fly" zone over Libya and military action.

Washington announced the sanctions move after a chartered ferry and a plane carrying Americans and other evacuees left the Libyan capital Tripoli earlier on Friday.

The Obama administration had been criticized for its relatively restrained response so far to Gaddafi's crackdown on opponents, but U.S. officials said fears for the safety of the Americans had tempered Washington's response to the turmoil.

Full story:

 

[Uwezo Tunao]

KHAMIS QADHAFI NI MTOTO NAMBA 7 KWA KANALI NA NI ASKARI POLISI NCHINI MWAKE
AMBAYE MPAKA HIVI MAJUZI NDIYE ALIYEONGOZA SEHEMU YA WANAJESHI WATIIFU
KWA BABA YAKE KWENDA KUWASHAMBULIA NA KUWAUA KIKATILI WAANDAMANAJI
RAIA WENZAKE NCHINI LIBYA

Khamis Qadhafi is second fro the man in white jacket.

One must just agree that Muammar's cylinders are really firing. His other Saif al-Arab and Khamis, the latter being a police officer.

Now, anyone can tell you that being a police officer in such a society is a pretty good job to have, especially when daddy is running the joint.

Khamis is being reported to have led the forces cracking down on opposition rallies in eastern Libya. Not much is known about Saif al-Arab though the diplomatic gossip in Tripoli has it that he lives in Munich, Germany, is involved in murky business and loves to party like his brothers.

 

[Uwezo Tunao]

Aseya Al-Qadhafi

NI MTOTO PEKEE WA KIKE ANAYEFAHAMIKA KWA HUYU BABA; MSTAARABU ANAYEJISHUSHA, MWANASHERIA KITAALUMA, MLINZI WA AMANI NA MPATANISHI WA KUTEGEMEWA SANA
NDANI YA FAMILIA KANALI AMBAYE HADI WIKI JANA ALIKUA BALOZI WA AMANI WA
UMOJA WA MATAIFA KABLA BABA HAJAARIBU MAMBO

The only (known) daughter of Gaddafi is Ayesha, who happens to be a lawyer no less, which comes in handy for Hannibal in particular as she always seems to be called in to smooth over the cracks for his shenanigans.

She was also on Saddam Hussein's defence team for his trial - well, he ended up in the gallows, so that can't be added as one of her brighter elements of her career.

In true Bedouin style, she married a cousin of her father's in 2006. Now, for yet another shock of Ricky Martin proportions (we knew you were gay), Ayesha has her own .... charity, just like the desperate dictator housewives!

As this US State Department cable details, she and her brothers are extensively involved in the most profitable sectors of the Libyan economy, and serve on the boards of these companies. Also in true desperate dictator housewife/daughter style, Ayesha is quite glamorous.

Check out the pics...

But all is not well between the siblings. There is plenty of rivalry - so much that it could have been lifted from the script of Falcon Crest or a Mexican telenovela.

As US diplomats noted: controversy over the Coca Cola plant in Tripoli also highlighted Qadhafi family involvement in commercial enterprise.

While three different sons Saadi, Mohammed and Mutassim, were all rumored to be fighting at different points over who had the right to the representative licence, the dispute was supposedly argued before the courts and resolved through mediation.

The very twisted tale of the Coke franchise, continues to confound the local business and diplomatic community attempts to ascertain exactly what interests are in play.

Mutassim was involved in setting-up the Coca-Cola franchise held by the Egyptian Ka'ur group during the late 1990s.

Mutassim lost control of many of his personal Libyan business interests during the period of 2001 to 2005 when his brothers took advantage of his absence to put in place their own partnerships.

Mutassim was then spotted arriving on a British Airways flight at Tripoli International Airport, greeted by a small group of well wishers and protocol assistants with bouquets of flowers (how nice!), then whisked off to the VIP arrivals lounge and into his vehicles without passing through customs or immigration.

Mohammed, the head of the Libyan Olympic Committee, now owns 40% of the Libyan Beverage Company, currently the Libyan joint venture Coca-Cola franchisee.

The British Ambassador to Libya reported his sources attributed the resolution to a deal whereby Mohammed Al-Qadhafi was prevailed upon to relinquish his Libyan Olympic Committee's share of the joint venture and sign it over to the Libyan Pensions Fund.

Another Ambassador chimed in that he heard it was sister Aisha Al-Qadhafi who mediated the dispute between the two brothers and got Mohammed out of the soda business.

If Libyan government officials are asked about the Coca Cola case, the standard response is that the government was making sure that all the proper licences and registrations were in place. Phew!

 

[Uwezo Tunao]

LAKINI HIVI SASA 'NGUVU YA UMMA' WAMEAZIMIA KWAMBA WANATAKA KUJIONDOLEA
MBALI UCHAFU WOTE HUU ILI TAIFA IPATE HEWA MPYA KIMAENDELEO

So are the Gaddafis now facing the axe with the scripts for their final episode being written by the Libyan people, especially those of the country's eastern region of Cyrenaica?

Well, the reports broadcast by Western media sources are based on widespread speculation and rumour. What the media is doing is falling yet again into the trap oft repeated when passions are high on revolution.

People involved in the heat of these emotional events tend to exaggerate everything, whether it be death tolls, numbers at demonstrations or levels of brutality.

Have people died in Benghazi and are there demonstrators in Tripoli - probably yes. Have over 300 died in Benghazi and the numbers at the Tripoli demo reach over a hundred thousand? Probably not.

Let's remember how events were reported when Romania's Ceauşescu was toppled in 1989.

When he was tried by kangaroo court on Christmas day 1989, he was accused of genocide, of having killed 64,000 Romanians in the period from the 17th to 25th December 1989.

During that period, the numbers of the people dead that were being mentioned had consistently grew as the Chinese whispers spread. With no better source to verify such information, these huge death tolls were taken to be fact.

Once all was settled and better sense could be made of what had happened in that period, the final death toll only came to 108! So how did 108 become 64,000 then?

There is also another parallel between the Romanian 1989 revolution and current events in Libya - the rumour of 'foreign mercenary' participation.

When the Hungarian nationalist pastor Laszló Tökes and his parishoners openly protested against Ceauşescu's system in Timişoara on 17 December 1989, the death toll from the subsequent massacre began to grow and grow (thousands rumoured to be dead when the toll actually was no more than 20).

Word also had it that North Korean and not Romanian soldiers were responsible for mauling the unarmed demonstrators.

Fast forward 20 years and now in Libya we hear of 'news' that those firing on the demonstrators are 'mercenaries' from a variety of countries (usually sub-Saharan African), while the Libyan government is too laying blame on 'foreign insurgents' for instigating the demonstrations.

Blaming foreigners for atrocities is a simple way of getting people to believe the worst possible scenario, and no one in a country would want to believe that an armed force would fire on its own people.

 

[Dyslexia]

:A S 13:Good to know the other side of Gaddafi!

 

[EMT]

Tarik Yousef - Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institute in Washington. tells Al Jazeera following Gaddafi's 'surprise speech' speech at Green Square, thirty minutes earlier:


I am torn between seeing this as a legitimate speech in front of crowds willing to support him, but I'm also aware of the capability of Libyan propaganda machine, so I want to wait and see what the analysts make of it ... That is not the average scene of what you'd expect from Green Square

 

[EMT]

Gaddafi addresses Tripoli crowd

 

[EMT]

The reports that protesters, armed with weapons from abandoned security installations in Beghazi, vow to march on to Gaddafi's palace in Tripoli. Writer Adrian Blomfield says that many in Benghazi are afraid of "the retribution Mr Gaddafi will unleash on them for their rebellion if they fail to complete their mission and force him from power".

 

[EMT]

 

[EMT]

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged the Security Council to act quickly on a proposed package of U.N. sanctions aimed at forcing Libyan leaders to end their violent crackdown in the country. "It is time for the Security Council to consider concrete action," Ban told the 15-nation council. "The hours and the days ahead will be decisive for Libyans."

Chad's Foreign Ministry has rejected allegations that citizens were among those reportedly recruited by Gaddafi to crack down on protesters.

International media inundates the public opinion with information alleging some Chadian would be mercenaries currently acting in Libya. We want to formally and categorically deny all those allegations that are dangerous and could pose a material and physical danger to the many Chadians living in Libya for years and always in a peaceful way. There are no Chadian mercenaries, there are no Chadians being recruited on Chad territory to go to Libya as mercenaries. It is possible that some Chadians in a private capacity and for personal reasons can belong to such or such group.

Washington is finalising sanctions against Libya; the precise plan will be outlined in "the near future" according to Washington spokesperson, Jay Carney. "The mechanics of the sanctions have not been finalised"

Live Blog - Libya Feb 25 | Al Jazeera Blogs