LIBYA: Rebels break into and ransack Muammar Gaddafi's country house

Record ID: 625007

  • Title: LIBYA: Rebels break into and ransack Muammar Gaddafi's country house
  • Date: 28th August 2011
  • Summary: TRIPOLI, LIBYA (AUGUST 27, 2011) (REUTERS) WIDE OF MUAMMAR GADDAFI'S FARM LOCATED IN SOUTH TRIPOLI WITH VEGETATION AND HOUSE AT FAR END EXTERIOR OF GADDAFI FARM HOUSE VARIOUS OF DAMAGED FARM HOUSE MAN SEEN WALKING THROUGH RUBBLE OF DAMAGED HOUSE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) UNIDENTIFIED MAN SAYING: "We used to hear about this farm, but never knew what was inside. Now we see
  • Embargoed: 12th September 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Libya
  • Country: Libya
  • Topics: Conflict
  • Reuters ID: LVA90YMKLF5D2IZQMM97IHCS5JQP
  • Story Text: A once top security farm owned by Muammar Gaddafi was ransacked, found with its contents looted and building destroyed when Reuters visited it on Saturday (August 27).
    The country home is among many of Gaddafi's properties that have been looted and destroyed since rebels advanced on Triploi.
    "We used to hear about this farm, but never knew what was inside. Now we see everything inside it. Even for you as journalists, you did not know anything about Gaddafi's farm. What do you think about all the wealth and beauty you see?" said one man as he explored the compound.
    A luxury villa in central Tripoli was also among the latest vestige of his fallen rule to be pillaged by angry mobs.
    The opulent compound in the upscale Gargur district was bombed by NATO in April in what Gaddafi allies said at the time was an attempt to kill their leader.
    Its iron gates now broken and wide open, the once top-security villa was abandoned and looted.
    Framed Gaddafi portraits, torn apart and stamped on, littered the lawn outside the main building.
    An armoured vehicle peppered with bullet holes was parked at the gate. Inside, broken furniture filled lavish rooms with arched hallways. Chairs and men's clothes floated in a vast indoor swimming pool.
    Music from an electronic toy filled the corridors with a Beethoven tune.
    An assortment of what looked like private family photos depicting Gaddafi surrounded by family and allies were strewn on the grass outside the house. Some were ripped into pieces.
    One photo showed a younger Gaddafi smiling alongside Moussa Koussa, his former close lieutenant who defected to the West shortly after the rebellion began.
    Heaps of rubble, spent cartridges, machinegun belts, broken toys and glass were scattered around. An empty bottle of Gold Label whisky was left on the steps of the house.
    Local residents said crowds broke into the compound after Tripoli fell to rebels this week.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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