The Network of… Colonel Muammar Gaddafi

The Network of… Colonel Muammar Gaddafi

Known as Mad-Dog Gaddafi to some, the Libyan leader has developed a colourful network of contacts through his forty years of rule. Kipp takes a look at some of them.

March 2, 2011 5:14 by shafeer

Due to the unrest in Libya, Kipp has now spent many working hours reading up on the crazy antics of the country’s deluded dictator. Why have we been reading about things unrelated to the UAE business scene? Well for one thing, articles of Gaddafi are so unbelievable, we just can’t help ourselves. From proclaiming there are no protests in Libya (despite media clearly depicting the very opposite) and that his people love him and are willing to die for him, to reports that he travels around with a fleet of 40 virgin female bodyguards and insists on setting up his tent wherever he travels – most problematically at the UN General Assembly in New York a few years ago – Gaddafi would be a rather comical figure if he didn’t have the country’s security forces at his disposal to use against his people. They have lived under his tyrannical rule for the past forty years.

Since he came to power in 1969 in a bloodless coup, Gaddafi is the longest-serving leader in both Africa and the Arab world and is a big promoter of pan-Arab nationalism and the unity of Africa (as signified by his giant green broche of the map of Africa he sports on international visits). Now that Gaddafi is facing unprecedented protests after 41 years in command, a lot of attention is being paid to the people who have considered this dictator a friend…

Click “next” to see Gaddafi’s network.