We had always heard that the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi admired former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. In 2007, he called her "Leeza ... my beloved black African woman" whom he loved "a lot".
Just words? Maybe. Or perhaps, as a discovery this week suggests that it was actually quite impressed.
The rebels looted the Bab al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli found a photo album of Rice, The New York Times.
A description of the album, Times:
"There is a (photo), smiling aside, his flip-do perfectly accented by the camera. And there she is in another, smiling next to you-know-who, during a visit to Tripoli. It was a white robe with purple sash and pin of Africa, which is more formal with a gray striped suit with white pearls, how they flip-not giving a jolt to the page-boy. "
Rice was with the Bush administration, when the United States restored relations with Libya in 2005 after Gadhafi decided to abandon its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, renounce terrorism and compensate victims of an attack of 1986 in Berlin discotheque and 1988 103 Pan Am bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland.
In a 2007 interview with Al Jazeera, Gaddafi said this about the rice:
"I support my darling black African woman. ... I admire and am very proud of the way she leans back and gives orders to the Arab leaders. ... I love her very much. I admire and am proud of it because she is a black woman of African origin. "
Rice met Gaddafi next year, when Rice made the first visit by a U.S. secretary of state Libya in more than 50 years. Elise Labott CNN reported on his meeting in a reception room in the resort of Gaddafi in Tripoli
"Gaddafi, wearing a white robe and a black hat, but not their sunglasses dark markings, shook hands with male members of staff at Rice, but not rice, instead of offering the traditional greeting of your hand on his heart to her, "said CNN.com Labott in his piece, given that Muslim men are forbidden to shake hands with women who are not related.
Rice's office, when he told CNN on Thursday the reaction to the photo album, said he would reserve his comments until the release of his book on November 1.
Fouad Ajami, a Middle East expert, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and an outspoken critic of Gadhafi, provided some context as to why Qadhafi emphasizes the African roots of Rice and comment on its dealings with Arab leaders.
"He envisioned ... in a moment as an African," said Joe Johns Ajami CNN Thursday. "Basically he said in a time when Libya is an African country, (that) has nothing to do with the Arabs. And he called king of the kings of Africa, and gave back to Arabs."
