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The Life and Times of Muammar Al-Qaddafi
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11151 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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3 / 1986 |
3,767 Words |
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John Rees and Martha C. Powers
John Rees and Martha Powers are with Mid-Atlantic Research
Associates, publishers of Early Warning |
Sebha, a town of less than 40,000 people deep in the Fezzan desert, the geographical heart of Libya, provided a genesis for Muammar al-Qaddafi's Green Revolution.
It is conceivable that Sebha may also be Qaddafi's nemesis.
It was in Sebha high school in 1959 that the 15-year-old son of Abu Meniar and Aissha al-Qaddafi first heard Egypt's charismatic leader, Gamal Abdul Nasser, on the radio program, "Voice of the Arabs," beamed from Cairo.
As Colonel Qaddafi, now 44, said recently in an interview with Peter Enahoro of Africa Now: "Nasser was the hero of the Arab nation. He was the pioneer of Arab union and Arab nationalism. He was a powerful opponent of colonialism all over the world, and he was loved by the ordinary masses, the simple masses." Certainly Nasser became an inspirational force and the intellectual mentor to Qaddafi.
Libya had been ruled since independence in December 1951 by King Idris al-Sanussi, childless, ascetic, and a former head of the Sanussi Islamic order. He was surrounded by corrupt, officials in his own government, from the oil companies, and from foreign corporations. While Idris was a reclusive ruler, his government generally did nothing out of step with Western interests.
For example, Libya gave little support to President Nasser or to the Palestinian cause against Israel. And though it promoted the Sanussi Islamic order and its calls for practicing a simple, Koranic life, the regime was exceedingly lax about
... (1992 of 23266 Characters)
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