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The colonel and the 'nice' son were an effective double act
Last Updated: Feb 25, 2011
For many in Europe, the most shocking images to emerge from Libya were not the piles of bodies of protesters, nor the chilling rant of Colonel Muammar Qaddafi as he pledged to cleanse Libya, house by house, of the "greasy rats" threatening his regime. He has been known for such language for decades.
What really struck home was the bizarre performance of Col Qaddafi's second son, Saif al Islam, who appeared on state television on Sunday night vowing that the family would fight "to the last man, woman and bullet" to stay in power.
From London to Rome, European political leaders, bankers and security chiefs had convinced themselves that Saif represented the democratic future of Libya. Thoughtful and a superb networker, he was seen as the man to replace his ageing and unpredictable father and provide stability.
The London School of Economics, where Saif studied for four years to produce a 428-page doctoral dissertation on economic and political reform, is now covered in shame. It accepted a £1.5 million (Dh7.6 million) donation from Saif's charity, the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, to fund its global governance programme for North Africa.
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