• ‘Enough dirt for a Libyan soap opera’: Cables reveal Gaddafi family peccadilloes
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[IMG]http://l.yimg.com/lk/api/res/1.2/bd1pObMmzh46rbP6d0K9gQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW1lZGlhO2g9MjIzO3c9MzAw/http://mit.zenfs.com/102/2011/02/Qaddafi.jpg[/IMG] [url]http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110223/ts_yblog_thelookout/enough-dirt-for-a-libyan-soap-opera-cables-reveal-qaddafi-family-peccadilloes[/url] Col. Muammar Gaddafi, the leader of Libya, has been in the spotlight this week, [URL="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/yblog_thelookout/ts_yblog_thelookout/storytext/enough-dirt-for-a-libyan-soap-opera-cables-reveal-qaddafi-family-peccadilloes/40348038/SIG=12034rt3j/*http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/24/world/africa/24libya.html?hp"]clinging doggedly to power[/URL] as an anti-government uprising sweeps the country he's ruled for over 41 years. [URL="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/yblog_thelookout/ts_yblog_thelookout/storytext/enough-dirt-for-a-libyan-soap-opera-cables-reveal-qaddafi-family-peccadilloes/40348038/SIG=12moq6art/*http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/21/wikileaks-guide-gaddafi-fractious-family"]Diplomatic[/URL] [URL="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/yblog_thelookout/ts_yblog_thelookout/storytext/enough-dirt-for-a-libyan-soap-opera-cables-reveal-qaddafi-family-peccadilloes/40348038/SIG=12f6ev4bh/*http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/23/world/africa/23cables.html?src=me&ref=world"]cables[/URL] released over the past year by WikiLeaks portray the Libyan leader as deeply eccentric and whimsical, but also as a passionate follower of global events who aspires to be a player on the world stage. And they detail how the often embarrassing behavior of Gaddafi's sons--which has included throwing a lavish party at which Mariah Carey was paid $1 million to perform four songs--has had political implications. Here are some highlights from the cables: • Gaddafi, 68, is described as a "mercurial and eccentric figure who ... enjoys flamenco dancing and horseracing, acts on whims and irritates friends and enemies alike." He's also said to fear flying over water and staying on the upper floor of buildings, to often fast on Mondays and Thursdays, and to have once proclaimed himself Libya's "King of Culture." Oh, and according to one memo, he travels almost everywhere in the company of a "voluptuous blonde" Ukrainian nurse. • Gaddafi "avoids making eye contact," according to one 2008 cable sent to then-Secretary of [URL="http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110223/ts_yblog_thelookout/enough-dirt-for-a-libyan-soap-opera-cables-reveal-qaddafi-family-peccadilloes#"]State Condoleezza Rice[/URL] as she prepared to meet the Libyan leader. [B]Rice also was warned that "there may be long, uncomfortable periods of silence[/B]," •[B] But Rice was also told that Gaddafi is a[/B] [B]"a voracious consumer of news[/B]," as well as a "s[B]elf-styled intellectual and philosopher[/B]," who "h[B]as been eagerly anticipating for several years the opportunity to share with you his views on global affairs[/B]."[B] One such view: an idea to solve the Arab-Israeli conflict by creating a new state called[/B] "[B]Isratine[/B]." • Gaddafi's five sons also make appearances in the cables. One, Muatassim, who serves as his father's national-security adviser, is said to have demanded $1.2 billion in 2008 from the chairman of Libya's national oil corporation, in order to establish his own militia. Twice in the last few years, Muatassim has held lavish New Year's parties on the Caribbean island of St. Barts, at which Mariah Carey, Usher, and Beyonce have been paid to perform (Carey was [URL="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/yblog_thelookout/ts_yblog_thelookout/storytext/enough-dirt-for-a-libyan-soap-opera-cables-reveal-qaddafi-family-peccadilloes/40348038/SIG=127fc0ubd/*http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/mariah-carey-was-paid-1m-160424"]reportedly[/URL] paid $1 million for four songs). The reports of Muatassim's "carousing and extravagance angered some locals, who viewed his activities as impious and embarrassing to the nation," one cable says. The Serbian ambassador is said to have described Muatassim as "not very bright." • Another son, Hannibal, was arrested in Geneva in 2009 after allegedly beating his servants, sparking a diplomatic spat between Switzerland and Libya. (Charges were dropped after the servants agreed to a settlement.) That same year, police went to Hannibal's room at London's Claridge's hotel, after a scream was heard. Hannibal's then-girlfriend (she is now his wife) was found to have suffered facial injuries, which she said she sustained in a fall. A 2010 cable written by Gene Cretz, then the U.S. ambassador to Libya, judged that between them, Muatassim and Hannibal had "provided enough dirt for a Libyan soap opera." • And that's not counting a third son, Sa'adi, who's described as "notoriously ill-behaved," with a "troubled past, including scuffles with police in Europe (especially Italy), abuse of drugs and alcohol, [B]excessive partying, [and] travel abroad in contravention of his father's wishes[/B]." A former professional soccer player ([B]he played a season for Perugia in Italy's top division[/B]), Sa'adi owns a part of one of Libya's biggest soccer teams, as well as a film production company. • Perhaps the best-behaved of Gaddafi's sons is Saif al-Islam, the presumed heir apparent, who is said not to get along with Muatassim, Hannibal, and Sa'adi. Ambassador Cretz's 2010 cable said that Libyan men in their 20s describe Saif as the "hope" of Libya, and want him to run the country. "The widening contrast between the respectable, cultured image that Saif has taken on and the spoiled, boorish image his siblings project," Cretz wrote, "has local audiences rallying behind Saif as the next heir to the Gaddafi throne." • Still, Saif is no altar boy (mosque boy?): Another cable reported that he, too, "[B]persisted in his hard-partying, womanizing ways[/B]." Nor does he seem to be a committed moderate. This week, he went on TV to declare that Libya faced a civil war and "rivers of blood" if people failed to support his father.
Long live Irastine.
How does Gaddafi always managed to look so stoned in [b]every single picture[/b]?
[QUOTE=Tentacle;28254075]How does Gaddafi always managed to look so stoned in [b]every single picture[/b]?[/QUOTE] [img]http://blog.sarcasmsociety.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Muammar-Gaddafi.jpg[/img]
incredibly small eyes
That crazy Gaddafi.
[QUOTE=Tentacle;28254075]How does Gaddafi always managed to look so stoned in [b]every single picture[/b]?[/QUOTE] He probably is.
[QUOTE=SBD;28255137]He probably is.[/QUOTE] I thought only women got stoned in Arab countries
hHAAHAHAHA
[QUOTE=Starpluck;28253559]• Still, Saif is no altar boy (mosque boy?): Another cable reported that he, too, "persisted in his hard-partying, womanizing ways." Nor does he seem to be a committed moderate. [b]This week, he went on TV to declare that Libya faced a civil war and "rivers of blood" if people failed to support his father.[/b][/QUOTE] Thanks for the heads up :downs:
[QUOTE=Tentacle;28254075]How does Gaddafi always managed to look so stoned in [b]every single picture[/b]?[/QUOTE] Would probably explain why he drives around the country in a fucking golf-cart. [img]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4237780/muammar-al-gaddafi.jpg[/img]
[QUOTE=Baldr;28255815]Would probably explain why he drives around the country in a fucking golf-cart. [img_thumb]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4237780/muammar-al-gaddafi.jpg[/img_thumb][/QUOTE] That is apparently a tuk tuk not a golf cart. If Gadaffi did not kill people he would be one hell of an awesome world leader, I mean the more you read about him the more crazy he sounds. I mean he has an all female body guard unit for crying out loud, he sounds like a bond villain.
Slightly related to this thread since it is about gadafi's family, but Gadaffi's adopted baby-daughter was killed by Americans in the 1986 bombing raid when they tried to blow up his house. Hence he has a deep hatred for Americans and the whole western world
[QUOTE=cheezey;28257738]Slightly related to this thread since it is about gadafi's family, but Gadaffi's adopted baby-daughter was killed by Americans in the 1986 bombing raid when they tried to blow up his house. Hence he has a deep[b]er[/b] hatred for Americans and the whole western world[/QUOTE] is that right? I thought he was anti-western from the get-go
[QUOTE=Jsm;28256370] I mean he has an all female body guard unit for crying out loud, he sounds like a bond villain.[/QUOTE] Funnily enough, the entry for Libya in The Onion's "Atlas" was titled "This Page Will Self-Destruct in 10 Seconds."
"Isratine." Holy Jebus, it's funny and scary at the same time. Funny because, well if "Isratine" doesn't make you laugh you're dead inside. Scary though that someone who thinks like this can be the leader of a nation in today's relatively advanced world. This is not a poor guy with no options, this is a guy who has had control of OIL all these years. He could have the most advanced minds working for him, tutoring him on all sorts of things. He could be a genius. Instead he's a nutcase.
He seems like such a nice pyschopathic leader.
[QUOTE=Jsm;28256370]That is apparently a tuk tuk not a golf cart. If Gadaffi did not kill people he would be one hell of an awesome world leader, I mean the more you read about him the more crazy he sounds. I mean he has an all female body guard unit for crying out loud, he sounds like a bond villain.[/QUOTE] Sounds like the fictional North Korean guy in the first Mercenaries. I suppose they based him off other nasty bastard world leaders besides Kim. He's less 'Crazy' in a 'zany' sense, more 'psychopathic'
I bet he was the class clown
[QUOTE=Starpluck;28260437]I bet he was the class clown[/QUOTE] 30 years later, at class reunions: "Welcome.. To the carnival of death!" *crowd laughs* "No seriously, step out of line and you'll disappear."
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