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Gaddafi Is a Clown, But No One Is Laughing

[Times-UK] Amir Taheri - Col. Muammar Gaddafi will soon celebrate the 40th anniversary of the coup that made him master of Libya and the longest-lasting dictator in the world today. At his side will be Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, the "mass murderer" whose release from prison in Scotland on compassionate grounds is billed in Libya as a victory over imperialism. Al-Megrahi, a distant relation of Gaddafi, always claimed his innocence. Had he admitted responsibility for the Lockerbie tragedy he would have implicated the entire Libyan regime headed by the very colonel who has become the toast of Western leaders. Over the past 40 years the colonel has had something like a trillion dollars in oil revenues to play with. That much money could have done wonders in a nation of four or five million. However, visitors to Libya would be struck by the rundown aspect of public infrastructure and the widespread poverty. What did Gaddafi do with all that money?
2009-08-24 08:00:00
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