- Title: FILE: Muammar Gaddafi's children dead, scattered or on the run
- Date: 22nd October 2011
- Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (FILE - NOVEMBER 1, 2008) (AGENCY POOL) RUSSIAN PRESIDENT DMITRY MEDVEDEV, MUAMMAR GADDAFI AND RUSSIAN AND LIBYAN OFFICIALS SEATED FOR MEETING MEDVEDEV ADDRESSING MEETING LIBYAN DELEGATION WITH MO'TASSIM GADDAFI SEATED ONE AWAY FROM GADDAFI GADDAFI ADDRESSING MEETING, MO'TASSIM GADDAFI LISTENING MEDVEDEV AND RUSSIAN DELEGATES CLOSE OF GADDAFI WIDE OF MEETING
- Embargoed: 6th November 2011 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Qatar, Usa, Russian Federation, Libya
- City:
- Country: Libya
- Topics: International Relations,Politics,People
- Reuters ID: LVA6D5IDIWJMATLGDG0IB9POWX5X
- Story Text: Muammar Gaddafi's eight children earned reputations for extravagance, violence and bizarre behaviour almost equalling their father's.
Amid the chaos of war, three now appear to be dead like the deposed Libyan leader himself, four are scattered in exile and one remains on the run, their lives of privilege disrupted or ended by the collapse of Gaddafi senior's 42-year rule.
Three sons -- Mo'tassim, Khamis and Saif al-Arab -- appear to be dead, like their father who was killed on Thursday (October 20).
Once national security adviser, Mo'tassim was reported to have died on Thursday (October 20) near his father's hometown of Sirte.
Al Arrai television pictures aired on October 21 showed him alive and then lying dead on a stretcher.
Saif al-Arab was killed in a NATO bombing raid on Tripoli.
As a four-year-old, he had also wounded in the air strike on his father's compound ordered by U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
He studied in Germany and was reported to have been involved in a fight at a Munich nightclub with a bouncer who tried to throw out his female companion after she began to undress on the dance floor.
Khamis played a leading role in Gaddafi's effort to crush the revolt as commander of the 32nd Brigade, one of Libya's best equipped units.
As a boy he was wounded in a 1986 U.S. bombing of Tripoli and was reported killed at least three times during this year's conflict. However, a Syrian-based television station that supported Gaddafi confirmed earlier this month that he had died in fighting southeast of Tripoli on Aug. 29.
When rebellion broke out in February, Gaddafi's seven sons and one daughter closed ranks around their father, breaking off lives that in many cases had been lived abroad.
Perhaps the best internationally known son, Saif al-Islam, is also the most elusive. A senior official of the National Transitional Council (NTC) said on Friday that he was fleeing south from the last Gaddafi stronghold of Sirte towards Libya's border with Niger, where another son has already taken refuge.
Al Arabiya TV quoted NTC officials as saying Saif al-Islam had been captured near Misrata but this was unconfirmed.
In U.S. diplomatic cables, Saif al-Arab was said to have spent "much time partying".
The remaining children appear to be safe for the moment at least in neighbouring countries.
Saadi fled to Niger in September, where the government has said he would not be extradited if there was a possibility he would not get a fair trial or risked getting the death penalty.
Saadi, who attempted to negotiate with the NTC in late August after its fighters swept through Tripoli, had a brief and undistinguished career with several Italian soccer clubs and also captained the Libyan national team, whose coach was once fired for not selecting him.
Three other children are in Algeria. The government there said it had given refuge to Gaddafi's wife in August with daughter Aisha and sons Hannibal and Mohammed.
Aisha, who studied in France and spoke out in defence of her father after the fighting started, cultivated a glamorous image that led some to describe her as the Claudia Schiffer of North Africa.
A lawyer, she later joined a team that unsuccessfully defended overthrown Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in Baghdad.
However, her role as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations did not survive the popular uprising in February.
Gaddafi's eldest son Mohammed headed Libya's Olympic Committee and was effectively in charge of Libya's telephone network, which was used to eavesdrop on anti-Gaddafi activists and put them in jail.
Hannibal is best known for an incident in a Geneva hotel which caused a diplomatic row. In 2008 Swiss police arrested Hannibal and his pregnant wife on charges of mistreating two domestic employees.
They were soon released and the charges dropped but within days, Libya withdrew millions of dollars from Swiss bank accounts and halted oil exports to Switzerland.
In Libya, two Swiss expatriates were not allowed to leave the country for two years. Libyan officials said their case had nothing to do with Hannibal's arrest but supporters of the businessmen said they were innocent victims of a Libyan vendetta against Switzerland.
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