Colonel Muammar Qadaffy... dictator of Libya since 1969. From 1972, when he relinquished the title of prime minister, he has been accorded the honorifics
Guide of the First of September Great Revolution of the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriyaor
Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution. With the death of Omar Bongo of Gabon on 8 June 2009, he became the longest serving of all current non-royal national leaders. He is also the longest-serving ruler of Libya since Tripoli became an Ottoman province in 1551. When Chairman Mao was all the rage and millions of people were flashing his Little Red Book, Qadaffy came out with his own Little Green Book, which didn't do as well. Qadaffy's instability has been an inspiration to the Arab world and to Africa, which he would like to rule...
's regime and Western governments while asserting that Qadaffy was still in the Bab al-Aziziyah barracks in Tripoli and that Libyan leader and his family were still in the country.
The sources explained in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat that in the last two days, Qadaffy held closed meetings with senior commanders of his military forces and security regiments to study the situation in the field, an indication that Qadaffy is working normally in the center of the Libyan capital despite pressure from the West and the revolutionaries opposed to him who are seeking his overthrow.
The sources revealed that Qadaffy derided Foreign Minister Musa Kusa's departure to Britain and his announcement that he had split from the government and pointed out that the Libyan leader told a number of individuals close to him that pressure tactics and intimidation by foreign intelligence services - which they did not identify - were behind Kusa's departure.
The secret visit by Muhammad Ismail, one of the closest aides of Engineer Saif-al-Islam Qadaffy, to the British capital London caused an argument over whether Ismail was representing the Libyan regime or Qadaffy's son who has been completely absent from the internal scene for a week. Saif-al-Islam and Ismail switched off their cellular phones while figures close to Qadaffy's son said he was not available at present to answer any telephone calls. A source close to Saif-al-Islam told Asharq Al-Awsat he "does not believe that Ismail was representing Qadaffy's regime as much as representing his son Saif-al-Islam during his lightning visit."
In a related development, Asharq Al-Awsat has learned that a failed revolt took place Friday inside Qadaffy's residence by some junior officers from the pro-Libyan regime armed forces before Qadaffy's forces intervened to crush it immediately. An informed source in Tripoli said by telephone: "We understood that a small revolt took place which was contained immediately" but the source refused to give any more details.
Another source informed Asharq Al-Awsat that the cause of the shootings local residents heard near Qadaffy's headquarters in Bab al-Aziziyah barracks was a failed attempt by some government officials to leave the headquarters without obtaining prior permit. The source, which is very close to one of Qadaffy's sons, said in a terse comment: "Some government officials tried to leave in the early morning without permission. There are instructions not to leave without approval."
In other news, Scottish detectives and prosecutors investigating the Lockerbie bombing plan to meet Foreign Office officials on Monday to discuss Libyan foreign minister Musa Kusa, who defected to Britain last week and whose fate currently remains unclear.
Kusa, a former head of Libyan intelligence and one-time member of Qadaffy's inner circle, flew to Britain from Tunisia on Wednesday and said he was resigning as foreign minister.
But Kusa was not offered immunity and Prime Minister
David Cameron... British PM Cameron describes himself as a
modern compassionate conservativeand has spoken of a need for a new style of politics that doesn't involve calling people names. He has stated that he is
certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite,which means he's probably not. He has also claimed to be a
liberal Conservative, and
a very tall short person. Since he is not
deeply ideologicalhe lacks core principles and is easily led. He has urged politicians to concentrate on improving people's happiness and
general well-being, instead of focusing solely on
financial wealth, which is easy for a stockbroker's kid to say. Ask him to lend you ten quid and see how that works out. He has been described as
certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ...
has urged police to follow the trail of evidence over the 1988 bombing of a Boeing 747 wherever it leads.
Libyan agent Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi is the only man convicted over the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, which killed 270 people.
Megrahi, who has terminal cancer, was released from a Scottish jail on compassionate grounds in August 2009, and received a hero's welcome in Libya.