A bullet hole in the head ended the 'Mad Dog's' life.
He was brutal as he was merciless, vicious as he was heartless, but at the end, like a mad dog cornered inside a sewer pipe, he was captured alive, and savagely killed, too, after which his bloodied body was dragged through the streets of his home city of Sirte to the sound of celebratory gunfire and jubilant shouts.
Thus, ended the life of a man known as ‘Mad Dog,’ who, for four decades not only turned the oil-rich country of Libya into his own personal fiefdom, but ruled it with impunity – oppressing his people, hanging his opponents in public squares and sponsoring terrorism abroad.
The tyrant’s shocking ending came after he and loyalist fighters tried to flee Sirte in a convoy of up to 100 vehicles, as the forces of the National Transitional Council (NTC) was embarking on its last and final assault at the place thought to be the last bastion of resistance after eight months of civil war.
The attempted escape was spotted by NATO which launched two devastating strikes. At least 50 loyalist fighters were killed. Among the wounded was Gaddafi, who, together with some bodyguards, limped his way to a concrete sewer.
He was, however, located by the rebel soldiers and despite pleas for understanding and mercy, Gaddafi has been seen to be manhandled and said to
From a bulletproof tent to a defenseless sewer where the 'Mad Dog' was found hiding.
have been shot in the head by his own bodyguard to spare him the indignity of being captured. Though this claim is still verifiable, most likely, however, the bullet must have come from a rebel’s gun.
In retrospect, the end of Gaddafi’s strongman rule had come when he turned his guns on protesters warning them ‘no mercy, no pity,’ and that they will be hunted down ‘alley by alley, house by house and room by room.’ When he finally sent his army to cleanse Benghazi, the Western powers and NATO decided to open up a campaign of aerial bombing that allowed rebel forces eventually to oust him.
His was part of the ‘Arab Spring’ wave of popular uprisings that have swept the Middle East, demanding the end of autocratic rulers and the establishment of greater democracy.
Among the Arab leaders, Gaddafi stands out as the flaky or goofy of them all and it is only fitting to innumerate here the things he did, had, or liked, that made him a first class weirdo. This is a re-print of an article taken from Yahoo News Philippines.
1. The “Bulletproof” Tent: When Gaddafi was at home in Tripoli, he lived in a well fortified compound with a complex system of escape tunnels. But when he travelled abroad, this “Bedouin” brought a bit of the desert with him, camping out in the world’s capitals. The tent was so heavy it needed to be flown on a separate plane, wherever the dictator travelled. To complete the Arabian Nights theme, Gaddafi often would tether a camel or two outside.
2. All-Female Virgin Bodyguard Retinue: They apparently weren’t around when Gaddafi needed them most on Thursday, but the eccentric dictator was historically protected by 40 well trained bodyguards – all of them women. The bodyguards, called “Amazons,” were all reportedly virgins who took a vow of chastity upon joining the dictator’s retinue. The women, trained at an all-female military academy, were handpicked by Gaddafi. They wore elaborate uniforms, as well as makeup and high-heeled combat boots.
3. His “Voluptuous” Ukrainian Nurse: For a decade, Galyna Kolotnytska, a Ukrainian nurse often described in the press as “voluptuous,” was regularly seen at the dictator’s side. Kolotnytska was described in a leaked diplomatic cable as one of Gaddafi’s closest aides and was rumored to have a romantic relationship with him. Several other Ukrainian women served as nurses and they all referred to him as “Papa” or “Daddy.”
4. Crush on Condoleezza Rice: In 2007, Gaddafi called former Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice his “darling black African woman” and on a 2008 visit she made to Tripoli, the dictator gave her $200,000 worth of gifts, including a ring and a lute. But it wasn’t until rebels stormed his Tripoli compound that the depths of the dictator’s infatuation were exposed. There among Gaddafi’s belongings was a carefully composed photo album made up of dozens of images of no one but Rice.
5. Fear of Flying and Elevators: Part of the reason Gaddafi loved travelling with that tent of his was because he was worried about lodging in a hotel where he’d have to ride an elevator. According to leaked diplomatic cables, the Libyan didn’t like heights much either, and would only climb to a height of 35 steps. He therefore wasn’t much of a fan of flying, refusing to travel by air for more than eight hours at a time. When he would travel to New York of the U.N.’s annual general assembly, he would spend a night in Portugal on the way to the U.S.
6. Bunga Bunga: In 2010, one of Gaddafi’s most eccentric pastimes was exposed by Italian prosecutors investigating Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. A 17-year-old prostitute named Karima el-Mahroug, better known as Ruby Heartstealer, revealed that she had been invited to an orgy, called a “bunga bunga.” “Silvio told me that he’d copied that formula from Muammar Gaddafi,” she told prosecutors according to La Repubblica. “It’s a ritual of [Gaddafi’s] African harem.”
7. An Eclectic Wardrobe: In those photos of world leaders standing shoulder to shoulder on the sidelines of this or that international forum, Gaddafi was always the easiest to pick out. His wardrobe was an eclectic mix of ornate military uniforms, Miami Vice style leisure suits, and Bedouin robes. Gaddafi, who pushed for a pan-African federation of nations, often decorated his outfits with images of the African continent. He’d sport safari shirts printed with an Africa pattern, or wear garish pins or necklaces of the continent.
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