Noah David Simon: Mutassim Gaddafi

Three of Colonel Gaddafi’s sons were last night reported to be in the hands of Libyan rebels as rumours spread that the tyrant himself had fled the capital.
There were reports that Gaddafi had fled to a bunker outside Tripoli, while the British representative of the rebels told Sky News he believed the dictator may even have gone to Algeria.
Independent Libyan television claimed the tyrant had ‘run away like a coward’, while the news channel Al-Jazeera reported the African Union may be offering Gaddafi exile in Angola or Zimbabwe.

Armed to the teeth and baying for Gaddafi's blood: Rebels head towards the gates of Tripoli yesterday. They claimed the dictator had reached 'zero hour' for his reign of terror

Thousands of people gathered in central Benghazi last night following the news from Tripoli

Celebration: A man on the roof of a building in Benghazi fires a flare into the air as other fireworks go off around him

Riding to victory: A group of Libyan rebels smile and make peace signs as they progress into Tripoli yesterday

Last stand: Gaddafi's son Saif Al-Islam in a televised address. Last night he was said to have been captured by rebel forces

The head of Libya’s National Transitional Council, the rebels’ governing body, said they had arrested Saif al-Islam and Al-Saadi, two of the tyrant’s sons. A third, Muhammad, was reported to have handed himself in.

More...

Libyan rebels capture Tripoli and arrest dictator's son Saif: 'We'll give Gaddafi safe passage. . . if he steps down'

Mustafa Abdel Jalil told Al-Jazeera: ‘He (Saif) is being kept in a secure place under close guard until he is handed over to the judiciary.’
And he insisted Saif would not be harmed, telling French newspaper Le Monde: ‘We gave instructions that he is well treated, in order to be judged.’

Jubilant: This group of Libyan civilians were on the streets of Maia celebrating the rebels advancement

Freedom: A young man carries the flag of the Libyan republic along the streets of Maia

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi once had a very close relationship with the West and was considered by many to represent a more democratic future for Libya. But since the uprising began he has become closely allied to his father. The International Criminal Court has a warrant out for his arrest on war crimes charges.

Gaddafi’s oldest son, Muhammad, ran the company which operated all mobile phones and satellites in the country, as well as being head of the Libyan Olympic Committee.
Al-Saadi, took a far more hands-on role in his father’s regime, as commander of Libya’s Special Forces. He has been accused of ordering the army to fire on unarmed protesters in Benghazi at the start of the uprising.
As wild celebrations erupted across Libya to mark Gaddafi’s apparent departure, there were reports that the dictator, who has been in power for 42 murderous years, was actually moving around a series of bomb-proof bunkers and tunnels beneath the capital.

The battle for Tripoli

they said he was boring on T.V., but he went out with a sizzle...

Daddy Qaddaffi with Nasser in 1969 Gaddafi looked to Gamal Abdel Nasser as a role model and based his government on Nasser's Egypt. He was fiercely anti-Western, and told Western officials that he would expel their companies from Libya's oil fields unless they shared more revenue. In his statement, he threatened to do so only if Nasser told him to, indicating strong ties to Nasser. Because of his demands, oil companies changed their payments from 50-50 to 79-21 percent in favor of the government. In December 1969, Egyptian intelligence stopped a planned coup on Gaddafi from high-ranking members of his leadership. Many of the dissenters were uneasy about his growing relationship to Egypt. After the failed coup Gaddafi made any political dissent illegal and gave power only to his family and closest associates.

Compound: Two men survey damage at the Gaddafi residence in Tripoli following an air strike. There are reports the home has secret tunnels the tyrant may use to escape

And even as he was supposed to have taken refuge within the complex – which is reputed to be able to withstand a nuclear attack – the dictator broadcast a message as his troops prepared to mount a last stand.
Gaddafi’s official spokesman had previously lashed out against Britain, France and the U.S. – the three countries leading the campaign to oust the dictator – as he warned of a ‘ghastly disaster’ if rebel forces took Tripoli. Earlier in the day, sources inside the embattled city said pro-Gaddafi forces had put snipers on the rooftops of buildings around Bab al-Aziziyah, Gaddafi’s secret compound, and on the top of a nearby water tower.
His bunker complex is the stuff of Libyan folklore. Tunnels are said to connect vast, cavernous rooms capable of housing tanks, aircraft and weapons. He also has sleeping quarters in different parts of the complex. An insight into his desire to seek refuge underground emerged when rebel forces seized control of Benghazi, the country’s second city, in March.
They discovered a series of tunnels and rooms built more than 100 yards below the earth.
But the Tripoli complex is far grander, and some defectors claim there are even tunnels running for hundreds of miles from Gaddafi’s bunker to the south of the country – a possible escape route.
At the start of the uprising, Gaddafi ordered a children’s playground to be built around the secret entrances to the bunker, hoping this would deter targeted Nato airstrikes.
And Nato sources warned the shifting battle lines and the movement of the fighting into built-up areas in Tripoli had made it more difficult to engage airstrikes without endangering civilians.

via dailymail.co.uk

Revenge!

Colonel Gaddafi suffered a massive personal setback when one of his sons was allegedly killed in a suicide air mission on his barracks.

Khamis, 27, who runs the feared Khamis Brigade that has been prominent in its role of attacking rebel-held areas, is said to have died on Saturday night. A Libyan air force pilot crashed his jet into the Bab al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli in a kamikaze attack, Algerian TV reported following an unsubstantiated claim by an anti-Gaddafi media organisation. Khamis is alleged to have died of burns in hospital. The regime denied the reports. It was claimed he died in the same compound hit by RAF cruise missiles hit by coalition forces last night. More... via eye-on-the-world.blogspot.com and via therealtimer.com

Muamar is married to Sofija Farkas from Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, who is his second wife. Gaddafi has eight biological children, seven of them sons. He has also adopted two children, Hanna and Milad.

Muhammad al-Gaddafi, was born to a wife now in disfavour, but runs the Libyan Olympic Committee. Muhammed, the only child from Gaddafi’s first marriage, is a computer scientist who has headed the country’s Olympic committee and the state-run General Post and Telecommunications Company.

Al-Saadi opted for forgo politics in favor of his true passion — soccer — and in 2003, even briefly joined Perugia, a team that was then in the top tier of Italy’s soccer league.

The third eldest, Saadi Gaddafi, is married to the daughter of a military commander. Saadi runs the Libyan Football Federation and signed for various professional teams including Italian Serie A team U.C. Sampdoria, although without appearing in first team games.

Saif al-Islam Muammar Al-Gaddafi: London School of Economics Resignation The next eldest son, by his second wife Safia, is Saif al-Islam Muammar Al-Gaddafi, who was born in 1972 and is an architect. He runs a charity (GIFCA) which has been involved in negotiating freedom for hostages taken by Islamic militants, especially in the Philippines. In 2006, after sharply criticizing his father's regime, Saif Al-Islam briefly left Libya, reportedly to take on a position in banking outside of the country. He returned to Libya soon after, launching an environment-friendly initiative to teach children how they can help clean up parts of Libya. He is involved in compensation negotiations with Italy and the United States.

Mutassim with Hillary Clinton: Gaddafi's fourth son, Mutassim Gaddafi, was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Libyan army. National Security Adviser Mutassim Gaddafi is believed to have actively tried to cultivate relations with Washington. Still, Mutassim seems even more embedded in Libya’s state-security firmament than Saif, and commands their father’s elite presidential guard. He now serves as Libya's National Security Advisor, in which capacity he oversees the nation's National Security Council. His name مُعْتَصِمٌ بِٱللهِ muʿtaṣimu-n (bi l-lāhi) can be latinized as Mutassim, Moatessem or Moatessem-Billah. Saif Al-Islam and Moatessem-Billah are both seen as possible successors to their father.

\Nicknamed North Africa’s “Claudia Schiffer” due to her glamorous image, Aisha is a former Goodwill ambassador and frequent tabloid target and was once rumored to have had an affair with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. She has since slammed NATO airstrikes, and rallied a crowd early Friday from a balcony at her father’s compound that was hit by U.S. warplanes 25 years ago.

The fifth eldest, Hannibal Gaddafi, once worked for General National Maritime Transport Company, a company that specializes in Libyan oil exports. He is most notable for being involved in a series of violent incidents throughout Europe. In 2001, Hannibal attacked three Italian policemen with a fire extinguisher; in September 2004, he was briefly detained in Paris after driving a Porsche at 90 mph in the wrong direction and through red lights down the Champs-Élysées while intoxicated; and in 2005, Hannibal in Paris allegedly beat model and then girlfriend Alin Skaf, who later filed an assault suit against him. He was fined and given a four month suspended prison sentence after this incident. ...In_December_2009 police were called to Claridges Hotel in London after staff heard a scream from Hannibal's room. Aline Skaf, now his wife, was found to have suffered facial injuries including a broken nose, but charges were not pressed after she maintained she had sustained the injuries in a fall. On 15 July 2008, Hannibal and his wife were held for two days and charged with assaulting two of their staff in Geneva, Switzerland and then released on bail on 17 July. The government of Libya subsequently put a boycott on Swiss imports, reduced flights between Libya and Switzerland, stopped issuing visas to Swiss citizens, recalled diplomats from Bern, and forced all Swiss companies such as ABB and Nestlé to close offices. General National Maritime Transport Company, which owns a large refinery in Switzerland, also halted oil shipments to Switzerland. Two Swiss businessmen who were in Libya at the time have, ever since, been denied permission to leave the country, and even held hostage for some time. (see Switzerland-Libya conflict). At the 35th G8 summit in July 2009, Gaddafi called Switzerland a "world mafia" and called for the country to be split between France, Germany and Italy.

Gaddafi's two youngest sons are Saif Al Arab and Khamis, who is a police officer in Libya. Gaddafi's only daughter is Ayesha al-Gaddafi, a lawyer who had joined the defense teams of executed former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi. She married a cousin of her father in 2006. His adopted daughter, Hanna, was killed in the April 1986 United States bombing of Libya. At a "concert for peace", held on 15 April 2006 in Tripoli to mark the 20th anniversary of the bombing raid, U.S. singer Lionel Richie told the audience: "Hanna will be honoured tonight because of the fact that you've attached peace to her name." His adopted son, Milad Abuztaia Al-Gaddafi is also his nephew. Milad is credited with saving Gaddafi's life during the April 1986 bombing of the Gaddafi compound. Gaddafi's brother-in-law Abdullah Senussi‎, who is married to his wife's sister, is believed to be his head of military intelligence. The family's main residence is on the Bab al-Azizia military barracks, located in the southern suburbs of Tripoli. In January 2002, Gaddafi purchased a 7.5% share of Italian football club Juventus for USD 21 million, through Lafico ("Libyan Arab Foreign Investment Company"). This followed a long-standing association with the Italian industrialist Gianni Agnelli and car manufacturer Fiat.

Gaddafi’s Favorite Ukrainian Nurse: I GO HOME NOW...

Oh, by the way, Gaddafi tried to rape a female reporter

Gaddafi holds an honorary degree from Megatrend University in Belgrade conferred on him by former Yugoslav President Zoran Lilić. Muammar Gaddafi fears flying over water, prefers staying on the ground floor and almost never travels without his trusted Ukrainian nurse Galyna Kolotnytska, a “voluptuous blonde,” according to a US document released by WikiLeaks late 2010. Galyna's daughter has denied the suggestion that the relationship is anything but professional. via babalfaqeer.blogspot.com and Daily Mail and image via fukung.net