Gaddafi, how I knew him
The first time I saw Muammar Gaddafi in 1975, when, as 2-th secretary of the I African department of the Foreign Ministry, arrived in Tripoli as part of the delegation accompanying the chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, A. Kosygin. It struck that 33-year-old M. Gaddafi, who was then chairman of the LAR Revolutionary Command Command, i.e. in his conversation with A.N. Kosygin, the head of state emphasized in every way possible respect for him as a person who exceeded him in age and experience, and sometimes could not hide his embarrassment. The eagerness and sincerity with which he expounded his ideas also attracted attention.
Later, while working as 1-th secretary of the USSR Embassy in Tripoli in 1976 - 1980, I met with M. Gaddafi dozens of times, accompanying our ambassadors I.N. Yakushin and A.V. Anisimov during visits to him, taking part in the negotiations of delegations visiting Libya, translating the conversations of the Libyan leader with the Soviet leaders during his visits to Moscow in 1976 and 1981, and then met with him in 1992 - 1996. already as ambassador of the Russian Federation in Tripoli.
Over time, the behavior of M. Gaddafi began to change. He was no longer embarrassed in the course of conversations with the “powers of the world,” but sought to emphasize his significance in every way. In public, he was completely different, skillfully adapting to the audience. Nevertheless, in the course of our meetings with him, he became the former M. Gaddafi, he kept himself simply and naturally. Maybe, because he understood that underlining his significance would not impress me, or maybe because I was for him a man who came from his youth.
Gaddafi was extravagant (spending the night in a tent during overseas visits, guarding women, tearing during a speech at the General Assembly of the UN Charter, etc.), but this was a deliberate tactic of the leader of a small country trying to draw attention to himself and to Libya.
Of course, M. Gaddafi was a dictator, but he was not a dictator like President of Iraq Saddam Hussein. During his time there were executions for political reasons, but M. Gaddafi did not resort to mass repressions. Moreover, he showed surprising mildness in relation to his former comrades with whom he had differences. It is enough to recall Abd al-Salam Jalloud: when a conflict arose between them, A.S. Galloud was removed from the Revolutionary leadership of the Supreme Security Council, but he lived quietly in a villa in Tripoli and even went abroad from time to time.
M. Gaddafi was a deeply religious man. Before making serious decisions, he traveled to the wilderness and retired in a tent, consulting with God. It seems unusual to us, but remember that even relatively recently, at the end of the 19th century, King William I, before making important decisions, left for the sea, locked himself in the ship church and asked God what to do. Of the statesmen, Gamal Abdel-Nasser was primarily admired by M. Gaddafi. According to the testimony of Mohammed Hasanein Haykal, “Gaddafi was created by two people - the Prophet Mohammed and President Gamal Abdel-Nasser. The result was a mixture of Islamic ideas during the life of the prophet and the revolutionary principles of Nasser "[i].
Gaddafi was one of those people for whom the main thing is not worldly goods, but the idea, the realization of which they devote their lives. In this case, such a role was played by the Third World Theory, developed by him, designed, in which M. Gaddafi was convinced, to solve the problems facing humanity.
The “Third World Theory” proclaimed the need to establish “genuine democracy of the people”. The Jamahiriya system created in accordance with it was similar to ancient democracy. The highest authority was considered to be local people's assemblies (MNF), created on a territorial basis and uniting the entire population of Libya. All questions of the life of the country were put up for discussion, including related to economic development plans, budgets, domestic and foreign policies. District people's conferences and the general public interest had the right only to bring the decisions taken by the MNF to a common denominator.
In practice, it turned out that the system is inefficient. The meetings of the Ministry of Taxes and Duties that lasted for weeks separated people from current affairs, the overwhelming majority of whom were not ready to make qualified decisions on the issues on the agenda, which could not but affect the forethought of the resolutions adopted. Often, the situation was saved only by the intervention of the leader of the Libyan revolution, M. Gaddafi (who refused all government posts, but retained de facto full power).
In the economic field, the fundamental postulate of the Third World Theory was the principle of “partners, not hired workers,” according to which factories and plants became the property of those who work for them. This led to the emergence of a self-governing sector in Libya, which, however, accounted for the entire 3% of the gross national product. This was explained by the fact that the experiment was not extended to remaining in the hands of the state oil-producing and manufacturing industries and banks, as well as to mixed companies: the Libyan leadership feared that the introduction of self-government in these sectors would lead to a collapse of the economy if the experiment with self-government fails .
The undoubted merit of M. Gaddafi was the construction of the Great Artificial River (VIR), which became the world's largest engineering project. A pipeline system was built, supplying the northern regions of the country with water, which came from four huge lakes under the sands of the Sahara, containing 35 thousand cubic meters. km fresh water [ii]. VIR not only had to provide coastal cities with water, but also provide an opportunity to use 160 thousand hectares of land for agriculture [iii].
The undoubted merit of M. Gaddafi is and made them in the social sphere. A significant part of the national income, which in 2010 amounted to 14,2 thousand dollars per capita, was distributed in the interests of all Libyans [iv]. Illiteracy was practically eliminated, the infant mortality rate dropped to 25 by 1 thousand newborns, parents were paid 7 thousand dollars for each child, 60 thousand dollars were provided to newlyweds for an apartment, basic foodstuffs and gasoline were subsidized by the state, electricity was free, the poor received help with money, food, and some with certificates for cars, unemployment benefits amounted to 750 dollars per month [v].
As for foreign policy, then, according to M.H. Heikala, M.Gaddafi, being a “simple sincere person”, appeared after coming to power in a “complex world filled with conspiracies and maneuvers”, which largely prevented his behavior the international arena, similar, as the Egyptian journalist notes, to the behavior of Tarzan in New York [vi].
His foreign policy was also subordinated to the desire to implement their theoretical tenets. Being, like G. Abdel-Nasser, a supporter of pan-Arabism, M. Gaddafi sought to unite with Syria, Egypt or Sudan, then with Tunisia, Algeria or Morocco. All these initiatives, which were launched without taking into account the real situation, ended in failure. Disappointment in Arab unity prompted him to embark on the path to achieving African unity through the formation of an African Union that would follow the path of integration, following in the footsteps of the EU. Although the AU was formally created, replacing the Organization of African Unity with itself, no analogue of the European Union could come out of it and could not work out.
One of the constants of the foreign policy of Libya was the support of the national liberation struggle. M. Gaddafi, however, lacked clear criteria for what is meant by the "national liberation movement." As a result, the Libyans assisted, on the one hand, terrorist groups such as the Irish Republican Army or the Moro Liberation Front, and on the other, the Palestine Liberation Organization, the African National Congress, the Mozambique Liberation Front, and the People’s Organization of South-West Africa.
The Libyan regime's foreign policy actions are inevitably associated with the 21 explosion of December 1988 of the Panamerican Boeing-747 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie and September of 19 of the DiCi-1989 of UTA over the Niger, killing a total of 10 people, resulting in a total of 440 people who died. vii] In 1999, a French court sentenced in absentia six Libyans to life imprisonment for a terrorist act against a French airliner, and in 2002 a Scottish court sentenced an employee of the Libyan special services Abd al-Basit al-Migrahi to life in prison imprisoned for blasting an American plane. 12 August 2003 The Libyan side admitted that its officials were responsible for the death of Boeing 747, but continued to deny involvement in the destruction of DiCi 10. [Viii] No charges were brought against M. Gaddafi himself. Moreover, in August 1999, the French prosecutor recommended not accusing him of involvement in a French airliner blast. [Ix]
Be that as it may, the death of two aircraft will remain a black spot on the direction of M. Gaddafi. The medal has, however, another side. In 1973, without warning, Israeli fighters shot down a stray Libyan Boeing over occupied Sinai. Killed about 150 people. There was no decision of the Security Council or the imposition of sanctions. A vivid example of the “double standards” policy being the norm for the West, isn't it ?!
During his life, Gaddafi made many mistakes as a politician, but he corrected them every time, finding a way out of what seemed to be hopeless situations. But his two mistakes were fatal.
First of all, Gaddafi incorrectly assessed the situation in Libya, where opposition moods were growing. His rule was unhappy with the tip of the Cyrenaica tribes, whose access to the division of the "state pie" was limited, as well as the Berbers Jebel Nefusa, who were deprived of themselves. On this lay the demands of democratization, with which the youth, the national bourgeoisie, the modern middle class spoke. Fundamentalists have become the shock force of "freedom fighters". The Libyan Islamic militant group managed to recover from the defeat it suffered in 1996 in an attempt to revolt in Cyrenaica. With the help of Qatar was acquired and hidden in the Libyan Desert weapon, militants trained and deployed to SUNLAD. They immediately took an active part in anti-government speeches, which from the very first days turned into an armed insurgency.
The son of Muammar, Seif al-Islam, felt an impending threat. He offered his father to adopt a constitution, to hold parliamentary and presidential elections, but M. Gaddafi refused to do so. If he had taken such a step, the current tragedy might have been avoided.
The second serious mistake of M. Gaddafi was the conviction that the external threat to Libya was over. He did not expect that the very heads of state and government who had assured him of friendship, embraced him, allowed him to pitch a tent in the center of their capitals, give orders to bomb Libya, or take a neutral-hostile position. If M. Gaddafi had not wondered from whom it would be better for him to buy weapons, but would have acquired modern anti-aircraft and anti-ship missile systems and prepared calculations for them, it is not known yet whether the West would venture to intervene.
What happened was a terrible blow for M. Gaddafi. According to one of his associates, Mansur Ibrahim, “he thought that the people would love him to the end. He felt that he had done so much good for Libya and for Libyans. He felt that the people he considered his friends, such as Tony Blair and Silvio Berlusconi, had betrayed him. ”[X]
But it should not be overlooked that the Libyan leader was not overthrown by his own people. On his side was the majority of the population of Tripolitania and Fezzan, and the armed rebel groups, when they were without air support, suffered defeat after defeat. Their victory ensured aviation The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which completed 26 thousand sorties in seven months. Hundreds of Qatari soldiers and officers fought on the opposition’s side, in violation of Security Council resolution 1973, whose participation in hostilities is recognized in public statements by PNC Chairman Mustafa Abd al-Jalil and Qatari General Staff Chief Hamad al-Atiyah. [Xi] They are together fighters of the French Foreign Legion, the English 22nd Regiment of the Special Air Service, as well as members of the United Arab Emirates played a decisive role in the assault on Tripoli (as evidenced by the testimonies of dozens of eyewitnesses). France, Qatar and the UAE supplied the rebels with weapons; French, English, and Qatari military advisers were sent to their units. Yes, and a blow to the convoy, in which M. Gaddafi followed, was inflicted by allied helicopters (which was officially confirmed by NATO command), and the "freedom fighters" only after that brutally killed the wounded Libyan leader. It is also noteworthy that two days before his death, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who arrived in Tripoli, publicly demanded "to kill or capture Gaddafi so that the Libyan people would no longer be afraid of him." During the air raids, the sons of the Libyan leader - Safe al-Arab and Khamis and three grandchildren - four-month-old Mansura, two-year-old Safe and three-year-old Cartago, were killed, and another son, Muatasim Bilyakh, was captured with his father and killed by “defenders of democracy.” [Xii]
M. Gaddafi was the last of the cohort of Arab nationalist revolutionaries, the last of the generation to which G. Abdel-Nasser, Ahmed bin Bella, Houari Boumediene, Abd al-Kerim Kasem, Habib Buriba belonged. On the offer to leave Libya, he replied: "Gaddafi is not a simple president to leave, he is the leader of the revolution and the Bedouin warrior who brought glory to the Libyans." [Xiii] His testament posted on the website of the leader of the Libyan revolution 24 of October this year, : “I urge my supporters to fight against any foreign invaders today, tomorrow and forever. Even if we do not win immediately, we will give a lesson to the next generations that the decision to protect our people is a great honor, and treason is the greatest betrayal that will remain forever in stories».
With the death of M. Gaddafi, the era that began in 1955 with the nationalization of the Universal Company of the Suez Canal, the era when the Arab peoples thought that they were able to get rid of the domination of the West and take their own destiny, ended. But what happened has another aspect. The overthrow of M. Gaddafi is another victory of what the Indian philosopher J. Kapur calls "protected weapons consumerism." At present, he points out, imposing, including by force, a single civilizational model, “which honors and protects the interests of the market,” and in this connection, “attempts to destroy cultural, religious or cultural diversity are always accompanied by economic, physical, social violence. "[xiv]
Societies that refuse to accept this model are forced into it by arms. Libya did not fit into this model. Syria and Iran fall out of it. By the way, and Russia is not yet fully compliant with the requirements imposed by the “consumer society” ...
[i] Heikal Mohammed Hasanein. Al-Tariq and Ramadan. Beirut, 1975, p. 168.
[ii] Gaddafi’s grand water project. // Military review - at: http://topwar.ru/7735-grandioznyy-vodnyy-proekt-kaddafi.html.
[iii] ibid.
[iv] Mirzoyan G. Death of the Jamahiriya. // Expert, 24.08 - 04.09.2011, p. 64.
[v] ibid.
[vi] Heikal M.Kh.At-Tarik il Ramadan, p. 175;
[vii] Каддафи, Муаммар. // Википедия – на: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B4%D0%B0%D1%84%D0%B8,_%D0%9C%D1%83%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%DC%D0%B0%D1%80
[viii] Gaddafi, Moammar ...; Interview Gaddafi M. newspaper "Figaro". - Quoted. by: Alekseev A. 30 years under the colonel, // Kommersant, 01.09.1999.
[ix] Interview Gaddafi M. newspaper "Figaro". - Quoted. by: Alekseev A. 30 years under the colonel, // Kommersant, 01.09.1999.
[x] Adler K. Gaddafi died "angry and disappointed." // BBC. Russian service, 31.10.2011 - at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/russian/international/2001/10/111006-qaddafi-featureyu.html
[xi] Suponina E., Dubov D. Syrian President scares regional war. // Moscow news, 31.10.2011.
[xii] Gaddafi, Moammar ...;
[xiii] Ibid;
[xiv] Kapoor J. Our Future: Consumerism or Humanism. M., 2008. with. 203, 205.
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