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Ayesha Gaddafi

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Ayesha Gaddafi
عائشة القذافي
Personal details
Born(1976-12-24)December 24, 1976(age 47)[1]
Tripoli,Libya
Spouse
​
​
(m.2006; died 2011)​
Children4
Military service
AllegianceGreat Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Branch/serviceLibyan Army
RankLieutenant colonel

Ayesha Gaddafi(Arabic:عائشة القذافي;born December 25, 1977), also known asAisha Gaddafi,is a Libyan former mediator and military official, formerUNGoodwill Ambassador,andlawyerby profession. She is the fifth child and only biological daughter of former Libyan LeaderMuammar Gaddafifrom his second wifeSafia Farkash.[2][3]

Education[edit]

Gaddafi was educated at theParis Diderot University,and she studied law at theUniversity of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne.[4][5]

Military service[edit]

She trained with the Libyan military, reaching the rank oflieutenant colonel.

Diplomacy[edit]

In 2000 after sanctions were imposed onIraq,she arrived inBaghdadwith a delegation of 69 officials. Shortly before the2003 invasion of Iraq,she met withSaddam Hussein.[6]

In 2000, Ayesha gave a speech atSpeakers' CornerinHyde Park, Londonin support of theProvisional Irish Republican Army,[7]when questioned about her support for the IRA in 2010 she stated "I have always been a supporter of all liberation movements. Britain is Britain and Ireland is Ireland."[8]She also supported theIraqi insurgents,stating "When you have an occupying army coming from abroad, raping your women and killing your own people, it is only legitimate that you fight them."[9]

In 2011, she strongly denounced the policies ofU.S. Secretary of StateHillary ClintonandU.S. PresidentBarack Obama,calling for a mediation of theLibyan Civil Warthrough an international organization which would exclude them.[10]

Ayesha has served as a mediator on behalf of the government withEuropean Unioncorporations.[6]

UN Goodwill Ambassador[edit]

Ayesha Gaddafi was appointed as theUnited Nations Development Program National Goodwill Ambassadorfor Libya on 24 July 2009, primarily to address the issues ofHIV/AIDS,povertyandwomen's rightsin Libya, all of which areculturally sensitivetopics in the country.[11][12]In February 2011 theUnited Nationsstripped Ayesha of her role as a goodwill ambassador.[13]

Legal affairs[edit]

In July 2004, she joined the legal defence team of former Iraqi PresidentSaddam Hussein.[6]

Gaddafi is also the head of the charity Wa Attassimou, which defendedMuntadhar al-Zaidiwhen he faced charges stemming from theshoe-hurling incident.[14]

Libyan civil war[edit]

Main article:2011 Libyan civil war

Travel ban[edit]

She was placed under a travel ban underUnited Nations Security Council Resolution 1970from 26 February 2011 to 16 October 2023.[15]

Legal petitions[edit]

Gaddafi suedNATOover the bombing of a building in her father's compound which she alleged killed her brother,Saif al-Arab Gaddafi,and her own infant daughter. She claimed that the attack was illegal because it targeted civilian buildings. Gaddafi's lawyers filed the petitions inBrusselsandParisin June 2011.[16]However, on 27 July 2011, it was reported that Belgian prosecutors had declined to investigate the war crimes complaint filed by Gaddafi against NATO, stating that the courts ofBelgiumlacked jurisdiction to deal with the matter.[17] On 3 June 2012, through her lawyer Nick Kaufman, Ayesha Gaddafi also petitioned the judges of the International Criminal Court requesting that they order the prosecutor -Fatou Bensoudato disclose what steps she had taken to investigate the murder of her father and brotherMutassim Gaddafi.This application was opposed by the prosecutor who stated that requiring her to disclose the requested information would intrude on prosecutorial independence and discretion and potentially impede the investigation itself.[18]

Battle of Tripoli[edit]

As theBattle for Tripolireached a climax in mid-August, the Gaddafi family were forced to abandon their fortified compound. On 22 August,Libyan rebelscaptured her house in the Battle of Tripoli.[19]Among her possessions was a golden sofa shaped like a mermaid with the face of Ayesha, designed by an Egyptian artist.

Flight to Algeria[edit]

On 27 August 2011, it was reported by theEgyptiannews agencyMenathat Libyan rebel fighters had seen six armouredMercedes-Benzsedans, possibly carrying top Gaddafi regime figures, cross the border at the south-western Libyan town ofGhadamestowardsAlgeria,[20]which at the time was denied by the Algerian authorities. On 29 August, theAlgerian governmentofficially announced thatSafia Farkashtogether with Ayesha and her brothers Muhammad and Hannibal (along with his wife Aline Skaf), had crossed into Algeria early on 29 August.[20][21]AnAlgerian Foreign Ministryofficial said all the people in the convoy were now inAlgiers,and that all of them had been named in warrants issued by theInternational Criminal Courtfor possible war crimes charges.Mourad Benmehidi,the Algerian permanent representative to theUnited Nations,later confirmed the details of the statement. The family had arrived at aSaharadesert entry point, in a Mercedes and a bus at 8:45 a.m. local time. The exact number of people in the party was unconfirmed, but there were “many children” and they did not include Colonel Gaddafi. The group was allowed in on humanitarian grounds, because Ayesha was pregnant and near her term.[22]The Algerian government had since informed the head of the National Transitional Council. Libya's rebels said sheltering Gaddafi family members was an act of aggression, and called for their extradition.[21]

On 30 August 2011 it was announced that Ayesha had given birth to a girl in the city ofDjanet. They were reportedly being confined by the Algerian government to a villa inStaouelinear Algiers, and were being cut off from outside communications.[23]

Life in exile[edit]

In October 2012 she, along with two of her brothers and other family members, left Algeria to go toOman,where they were grantedpolitical asylum.She had been kicked out for repeatedly setting fire to her safe house in Algeria.Ennahar newspaperreported that "she had blamed Algeria for her many problems." The last straw was when she burned a portrait of the country's presidentAbdelaziz Bouteflika.[24]

The EU amended their sanctions list in 2014, but did not include Ayesha, and rejected her requests to be removed from the list. She then sued on the basis that after the death of her father, there was now no reason for any bans. In May 2016, her mother and some of her family were allowed to return to Libya, still they were rejected and also went back to Oman as an asylum seeker but Ayesha Gaddafi remained in Oman. In January 2017, European Union's General Court announced that her appeal had been successful, and that all sanctions and travel bans were now lifted. The court directed that EU governments pay court costs.[25]As of March 2017, she reportedly was no longer in Oman and was living inAmman.[26]

In April 2021, the EU court ruled on removing Aisha Gaddafi from the European blacklist. According to the court, she no longer represented a threat to peace and security in the region.[27]

Personal life[edit]

Ayesha was dubbed in the Arab press as the "Claudia SchifferofNorth Africa,"because of her dyed hair.[2]On 16 April 2006, she marriedAhmed al-Gaddafi al-Qahsi,a grandson of her father's uncle and an army colonel. Her husband was killed in the 26 July bombing of Gaddafi's compound.[28]They had three children prior to the fall of the regime, one of whom was killed along with one of her brothers in a NATO airstrike and another killed along with her husband in the bombing of Gaddafi's compound. Algerian authorities confirmed that she gave birth to her fourth child, a baby girl, on 30 August 2011, shortly after arriving there after fleeing Libya with other members of the Gaddafi family. Shortly after arriving in Algeria they moved to Oman. As of April 2021, she still lives in Oman.[29]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^"US Treasury"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2022-03-03.Retrieved2022-03-25.
  2. ^ab"Aisha, Gaddafi's only daughter".The Telegraph.London. 22 March 2011.Retrieved9 June2011.
  3. ^Sullivan, Kimberly L. (2008).Muammar Al-Qaddafi's Libya.Twenty-First Century Books. p. 129.ISBN978-0822586661.
  4. ^"Les vacances des émirs du Golfe et leurs suites d'esclaves".nawaat.org(in French). 8 August 2008.
  5. ^"Aïcha Kadhafi se marie".jeuneafrique(in French). 23 April 2006.
  6. ^abc"Gaddafi's children as controversial as father".Al Arabiya News.23 February 2011.Archivedfrom the original on 23 July 2011.Retrieved9 June2011.
  7. ^"A look at the fate of Muammar Gaddafi's family".20 November 2011.
  8. ^"Aisha Gaddafi - Q&A".Archived fromthe originalon 2010-10-14.
  9. ^"Aisha Gaddafi - Q&A".telegraph.co.uk.
  10. ^Binlot, Ann (26 April 2011)."Aisha Qaddafi taunts Clinton and Obama".CBS News.Archivedfrom the original on 27 April 2011.Retrieved9 June2011.
  11. ^"Dr. Aisha Gaddafi Appointed UN Goodwill Ambassadorr".The Tripoli Post.24 July 2009. Archived fromthe originalon 2011-03-03.
  12. ^"Aisha Gadhafi: 5 Facts on Moammar Gadhafi's Only Daughter".AOL News.23 February 2011. Archived fromthe originalon 25 February 2011.
  13. ^"UN drops Gaddafi's daughter as goodwill ambassador".The Times of India.24 February 2011. Archived fromthe originalon 4 May 2011.Retrieved15 October2011.
  14. ^"Libyan group gives shoe-throwing reporter award".Reuters.16 December 2008.Retrieved4 January2023.
  15. ^"Security Council 1970 Committee Approves Delisting of One Individual from Travel-Ban Measure | UN Press".press.un.org.Retrieved2023-10-17.
  16. ^"Gaddafi daughter sues over attacks".heraldsun.au.7 June 2011.
  17. ^"Gaddafi daughter's war crimes lawsuit against NATO dismissed".timeslive.co.za/.Archived fromthe originalon 2011-07-30.
  18. ^"Prosecution response to Aisha Gaddafi's request for information relating to the status of the Prosecutor's investigations in the Libyan Situation".icc-cpi.int.
  19. ^"Rebels Storm Aisha Gaddafi's House".YouTube.Archivedfrom the original on 2021-12-22.
  20. ^abHarding, Luke; Chulov, Martin; Stephen, Chris (29 August 2011)."Gaddafi's family escape Libya net to cross into Algeria".The Guardian.London.Retrieved29 August2011.
  21. ^ab"Libya conflict: Gaddafi family 'flee to Algeria'".BBC News.29 August 2011.Retrieved29 August2011.
  22. ^"Gaddafi's wife, 3 children cross into Algeria".Hindustan Times.Algiers. Indo-Asian News Service. 30 August 2011. Archived fromthe originalon 7 September 2012.Retrieved15 October2011.
  23. ^McElroy, Damien (5 September 2011)."Libya: Gaddafi wife and children holed up in Algerian villa".The Telegraph.Algiers.Retrieved15 October2011.
  24. ^"Muammar Gaddafi's Daughter Thrown Out of Algeria After Starting Fires in Safe House".Time.3 April 2013.Retrieved4 January2023.
  25. ^"EU court lifts EU sanctions on Libyan dictator's daughter".Reuters.28 March 2017.
  26. ^"EU lifts travel ban on Gaddafi's daughter".Middle East Monitor.2017-03-29.Retrieved2023-01-26.
  27. ^"Aisha Gaddafi removed from the European blacklist".22 April 2021.
  28. ^"Aisha Gaddafi gives birth to baby girl hours after fleeing to Algeria".The Washington Post.30 August 2011.
  29. ^"Ayesha Gaddafi; the" Anonymous Letters "of the Controversial Daughter of the Libyan Colonel!".


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