Friday, 26 February 2010
Gaddafi's naughty boy
Travelling around Libya it struck me that Muammar al-Gaddafi was the Michael Jackson of dictators, always keen on appearing in fancy dress. He has just reinforced his whacky reputation by declaring a jihad on Switzerland and suggesting that Muslim nations should ban Swiss ships from their ports. Check the maps before the Swiss navy decides to head for Afghanistan.
Although Gaddafi mumbled about Swiss bans on minarets the main problem seems to have been a brief arrest of his 5th son Hannibal in Geneva in 2008. On this occasion he was reputedly beating up his servants with his wife's assistance, but the naughty boy certainly has form:
• 2001 – attacks three Italian policemen with a fire extinguisher
• 2004 – 150kph and through red lights while driving down the Champs Elysées in the wrong direction in his Porsche. Oh and he was drunk.
• 2005 – still in Paris beats up his girlfriend, fined and given 4 month suspended sentence
• 2009 – breaks same women’s nose in Claridges Hotel in London – she’s married to him now – or did she just fall over?
I wrote about Libya for my book Bad Lands, which also features an assortment of other 'bad' countries I travelled to including Afghanistan, Burma, Iran, Iraq, North Korea and Saudi Arabia.
Once while Travelling: The Lonely Planet Story