Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi

Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi ( _ar. سيف الإسلام القذافي, translation: sword of Islam) (born June 25, 1972) is a son of Muammar al-Gaddafi, leader of Libya.

Youth

Giving evidence in a 2002 legal action against "The Daily Telegraph", Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi recounted a terrifying event that took place in his youth: [cite web|title=Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi v. "The Daily Telegraph"|date=2002-08-21|url=http://www.libya-watanona.com/news/n21aug2a.htm |accessdate=2008-08-09]

"One of the worst times in my family's life together was the United States bombing raid on Tripoli and Benghazi (the two biggest cities in Libya) in 1986. I was only 14 at the time and my family were all together in our home in Tripoli. One night, without any warning, the bombers came and, for five minutes, rained rockets down on us. I was woken up by loud crashing sounds and explosions, it was absolutely terrifying. Our house had been directly hit. I knew that we had to go to a shelter which had been built within the house. Sadly, some of my brothers and sisters were too young to know what to do, and they became trapped in one part of the house when a corridor collapsed. They were stuck there until the rescue services arrived, and, when we dug them out we found that Hannah, my youngest sister, had died. She was just four years old."

Having lost the case, "The Daily Telegraph" was forced to apologise to Saif al-Islam for the two false allegations the newspaper had made against him: money laundering and enticing a journalist to travel to Libya to meet an uncertain fate. [cite news|title=Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi: an apology|date=2002-04-02|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1391636/Saif-Al-Islam-Gaddafi-an-apology.html |accessdate=2008-08-17]

Career

In 1994, Saif al-Islam graduated with a BSc in Engineering Science from Tripoli's Al Fateh University and gained an MBA from Vienna's IMADEC University in 2000. He is an architect with his own architectural agency in Tripoli – the National Engineering Service and Supplies Company.

Saif is the president of the Libyan National Association for Drugs and Narcotics Control (DNAG). In 1997, he founded the official charity, the Gaddafi International Foundation for Charity Associations, which has intervened in various hostage situations involving Islamic militants and the crisis of the HIV trial in Libya and the resulting European Union-Libyan rapprochement. Saif also performs public relations and diplomatic roles on behalf of his father. He has been mentioned as a possible successor, though he has denied this, claiming that Libya's future lies in direct democracy. [cite web|title=The Politics of Blackmail|date=2007-09-13|publisher="Newsweek"|url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/40280/output/print |accessdate=2008-08-09]

On December 10, 2004, shortly before a trip by Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin to Tripoli, Saif requested in an interview with "The Globe and Mail" a formal apology from the Canadian government, for joining U.S.-led sanctions against Libya after the Lockerbie bombing, and for denying him a student visa to study in Canada in 1997. His request was met with incredulity in Canada, and the Canadian government announced that no apology would be forthcoming.

Saif also introduced the Isratine proposal to permanently resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a secular, federalist, republican one-state solution. [cite web|title=White Book (ISRATINE)|date=2003-05-08|url=http://www.algathafi.org/html-english/cat_03_03.htm |accessdate=2008-08-09]

Speaking in Sabha on August 20 2008, Saif said that he would no longer involve himself in state affairs. He noted that he had previously "intervene [d] due to the absence of institutions", but said that he would no longer do so. He dismissed any potential suggestion that this decision was due to disagreement with his father, saying that they were on good terms. He also called for political reforms within the context of the Jamahiriya system and rejected the notion that he could succeed his father, saying that "this is not a farm to inherit". [ [http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/22/mideast/libya.php "Qaddafi's son declares he's leaving politics"] , Associated Press ("International Herald Tribune"), August 22, 2008.]

In an August 2008 BBC TV interview, Saif said that Libya had admitted responsibility (but not admitted "guilt") for the Lockerbie bombing simply to get trade sanctions removed. He further admitted that Libya was being "hypocritical" and was "playing on words", but Libya had no other choice on the matter. According to Saif, a letter admitting "responsibility" was the only way to rid the economic sanctions imposed on Libya. When asked about the compensation that Libya was paying to the victims' families, he again repeated that Libya was doing so because it had no other choice. He went on to describe the families of the Lockerbie victims as "trading with the blood of their sons and daughters" and being very "greedy": "They were asking for more money and more money and more money". [cite web|title=Lockerbie evidence not disclosed|date=2008-08-28|publisher=BBC|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/7573244.stm |accessdate=2008-08-29]

Negotiator

Interviewed by French newspaper "Le Figaro" on December 7, 2007, Saif said that the seven Libyans convicted for the Pan Am Flight 103 and the UTA Flight 772 bombings "are innocent". When asked if Libya would therefore seek reimbursement of the compensation paid to the families of the victims ($2.33 billion), Saif replied: "I don't know." [fr [http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/2007/12/07/01003-20071207ARTFIG00487-seif-el-islam-kadhafi-la-libye-sera-un-pays-heureux.php Saif says "Libyans are innocent" of the Pan Am Flight 103 and UTA Flight 772 bombings] "Le Figaro" December 7, 2007]

Saif is involved in negotiating compensation from Libya's former colonial power, Italy, and according to prime minister Silvio Berlusconi a bilateral "friendship treaty" is expected to be signed by the end of August 2008. He is also negotiating with the United States in order to conclude a comprehensive agreement making any further payments for American victims of terror attacks that have been blamed on Libya — such as the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing, the 1988 Lockerbie bombing and the 1989 UTA Flight 772 bombing — conditional upon U.S. payment of compensation for the 40 Libyans killed and 220 injured in the 1986 United States bombing of Tripoli and Benghazi. [cite web|title=Libya, Italy to sign compensation deal: Gaddafi's son|date=2008-07-24|url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080724/wl_nm/libya_italy_compensation_dc |publisher="Yahoo! News"|accessdate=2008-08-09] On 14 August 2008, the U.S.-Libya Comprehensive Claims Settlement Agreement was signed in Tripoli. Former British Ambassador to Libya Oliver Miles described the agreement as "a bold step, with political cost for both parties" and wrote an article in the online edition of "The Guardian" querying whether the agreement is likely to work. [cite news
title=The long road to normalisation|date=2008-08-16|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/16/libya.usa |accessdate=2008-08-17]

Personal life

Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi has been romantically linked to the Israeli actress, [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
] . [cite web |url= http://english.daralhayat.com/opinion/OPED/01-2006/Article-20060117-d8f7ac1a-c0a8-10ed-0013-5f0a96b0e8f6/story.html|title="Arab-Hebrew" Love Affair |accessdate=2008-09-05 |last=Ziabi |first=Jamil |date=2006-01-17 |publisher=Dar Al-Hayat]

References

External links

* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/libya/saif-qadhafi.htm GlobalSecurity.org profile]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4014147.stm BBC interview 11/2004]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6939216.stm BBC Article: Seif al-Islam Torture Admission 9/8/2007]