Personal life of Muammar Gaddafi
[2] The reporter Mirella Bianco interviewed Gaddafi's father, who stated that his son was "always serious, even taciturn", also being courageous, intelligent, pious, and family-oriented.
[5] Gaddafi's upbringing in Bedouin culture influenced his personal tastes for the rest of his life; he preferred the desert over the city and would retreat there to meditate.
[10] Bearman noted that Gaddafi was emotionally volatile and had an impulsive temperament,[2] with the CIA believing that the Libyan leader suffered from clinical depression.
She referenced Gaddafi's tendency to extreme self-aggrandizement such as repeated claims of being universally loved by all Libyans, ascribing himself superhuman or "god-like" qualities, and adopting various "grandiose" titles.
In addition, Mirak-Weissbach stated that Gaddafi was extremely paranoid, regarding any opposition as a wider Western-Zionist conspiracy.
[21] Pargeter also argued that "perpetual revolution was his enduring passion", as he remained privately fascinated with attempts to spread his political views across the world, particularly in Africa.
Drawing upon the influences of Lacroix, Liberace, Phil Spector (for hair), Snoopy, and Idi Amin, Libya’s leader—now in his 60s—is simply the most unabashed dresser on the world stage.
His home and office at Azizia was a bunker designed by West German engineers, while the rest of his family lived in a large two-storey building.
During his trips to Rome, Paris, Madrid, Moscow, and New York City,[37][38] he resided in a bulletproof tent, following his Bedouin traditions.
[37][39] Gaddafi was notably confrontational in his approach to foreign powers[40] and generally shunned Western ambassadors and diplomats, believing them to be spies.
[44] One of those Cojean interviewed, a woman named Soraya, claimed that Gaddafi kept her imprisoned in a basement for six years, where he repeatedly raped her, urinated on her, and forced her to watch pornography, drink alcohol, and snort cocaine.
[45] The alleged sexual abuse was said to have been facilitated by Gaddafi's Chief of Protocol Nuri al-Mismari and Mabrouka Sherif.
She was the daughter of General Khalid, a senior figure in King Idris's administration, and was from a middle-class background, having been a former school teacher.
[59] Gaddafi openly criticized his children's lavish spending, corruption, and westernized life, though he never managed to control their behavior.
[63] Sayyid Gaddaf al-Dam was a high-ranking political control officer in Sirte,[61] described as the second most powerful person in Libya in the 1980s,[64][65] and general coordinator of the Social People's Leadership Committees since 2004.
[61] Khalifa Haaish acted as Gaddafi's bodyguard and helped to suppress the 1993 Libyan coup d'état attempt; later he became responsible for weapons procurement.
He was one of the members of Gaddafi's inner circle, identified as a planner of the UTA Flight 772 attack, and head of the Mukhabarat el-Jamahiriya (Jamahiriya Security Organisation) from 1992.
