September 1, 2009 at 8:21 am

The Best Dressed Politician in the World

by twistedsifter

Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi aka Colonel Gaddafi aka Brothery Leader and Guide of the Revolution has been the de facto leader of Libya since a coup in 1969. He is the third longest-serving head of state in the world today. He also has really fancy outfits that are pretty awesome. Take a photo tour with us as we examine the best-dressed and most stylish politician in the world.

On September 1, 1969, a small group of military officers led by Gaddafi staged a bloodless coup d’état against King Idris I, while he was at a Greek resort for medical treatment. Gaddafi turned Libya into a haven for anti-Western radicals. Any group, no matter how bloodstained or discredited, could receive his guns and cash, provided it claimed to be fighting “imperialism” – source

On Wednesday 21 December 1988, the aircraft named Clipper Maid of the Seas (a Boeing 747-121) was destroyed by a bomb, killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew members. Eleven people in Lockerbie, southern Scotland, were also killed as large sections of the plane fell in and around the town, bringing total fatalities to 270. As a result, the event has been named by the media as the Lockerbie Bombing.

On 29 May 2002, Libya offered up to $2.7 billion USD to settle claims by the families of the 270 killed in the Lockerbie bombing, representing $10 million USD per family. The Libyan offer was that:

* 40% of the money would be released when United Nations sanctions, suspended in 1999, were cancelled;
* another 40% when U.S. trade sanctions were lifted; and
* the final 20% when the U.S. State Department removed Libya from its list of states sponsoring terrorism.

“In his four decades as Libya’s ‘Brother Leader’, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has gone from being the epitome of revolutionary chic to an eccentric statesman with entirely benign relations with the West.” — David Blair, diplomatic editor for The Daily Telegraph

– Gaddafi also appears to be attempting to improve his image in the West. Two years prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks, Libya pledged its commitment to fighting Al-Qaeda and offered to open up its weapons program to international inspection
– Following the attacks of 11 September, Gaddafi made one of the first, and firmest, denunciations of the Al-Qaeda bombers by any Muslim leader. Gaddafi also appeared on ABC for an open interview with George Stephanopoulos, a move that would have seemed unthinkable less than a decade earlier
– Following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein by US forces in 2003, Gaddafi announced that his nation had an active weapons of mass destruction program, but was willing to allow international inspectors into his country to observe and dismantle them
– In March 2004, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair became one of the first Western leaders in decades to visit Libya and publicly meet Gaddafi. Blair praised Gaddafi’s recent acts, and stated that he hoped Libya could now be a strong ally in the international War on Terrorism
– On 15 May 2006, the US State Department announced that it would restore full diplomatic relations with Libya, once Gaddafi declared he was abandoning Libya’s weapons of mass destruction program. The State Department also said that Libya would be removed from the list of nations supporting terrorism
– In July 2007, French president Nicolas Sarkozy visited Libya and signed a number of bilateral and multilateral (EU) agreements with Gaddafi
– In September 2008, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Libya and met with Gaddafi as part of a North African tour. This was the first visit to Libya by a US Secretary of State since 1953

According to The Straight Dope, the US Library of Congress has 32 spelling variations for the Stylish One

(1) Muammar Qaddafi, (2) Mo’ammar Gadhafi, (3) Muammar Kaddafi, (4) Muammar Qadhafi, (5) Moammar El Kadhafi, (6) Muammar Gadafi, (7) Mu’ammar al-Qadafi, (8) Moamer El Kazzafi, (9) Moamar al-Gaddafi, (10) Mu’ammar Al Qathafi, (11) Muammar Al Qathafi, (12) Mo’ammar el-Gadhafi, (13) Moamar El Kadhafi, (14) Muammar al-Qadhafi, (15) Mu’ammar al-Qadhdhafi, (16) Mu’ammar Qadafi, (17) Moamar Gaddafi, (18) Mu’ammar Qadhdhafi, (19) Muammar Khaddafi, (20) Muammar al-Khaddafi, (21) Mu’amar al-Kadafi, (22) Muammar Ghaddafy, (23) Muammar Ghadafi, (24) Muammar Ghaddafi, (25) Muamar Kaddafi, (26) Muammar Quathafi, (27) Muammar Gheddafi, (28) Muamar Al-Kaddafi, (29) Moammar Khadafy, (30) Moammar Qudhafi, (31) Mu’ammar al-Qaddafi, (32) Mulazim Awwal Mu’ammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Qadhafi

Gaddafi has eight children, seven of them sons. His eldest son, Muhammad Gaddafi, was born to a wife now in disfavour, but runs the Libyan Olympic Committee. The next eldest son by his second wife is Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi, who was born in 1972 and is an architect. Gaddafi’s only daughter is Aisha Gaddafi, a lawyer who joined the defense team of executed former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein

Random Facts
– In January 2002, Gaddafi purchased a 7.5% share of Italian football club Juventus for $21 million USD
– Libya was the first country outside the Soviet bloc to receive the supersonic MiG-25 combat fighters
– The Great Man-Made River is a network of pipes that supplies water from the Sahara Desert in Libya. The Guinness World Records 2008 book has acknowledged this as the world’s largest irrigation project