Muammar Gaddafi - Public Image

Public Image

In the 1970s, the Western media initially portrayed Gaddafi in a positive manner as a freedom fighter. A Readers Digest article at the time, for example, compared his freedom-fighting ideals to Che Guevara and noted his popularity among Libyans. This changed in the 1980s, when Gaddafi began being frequently portrayed a dictator and tyrant who was erratic, conceited, and mercurial in nature. During the Reagan administration, the United States regarded him as "public enemy number one" and Reagan famously dubbed him the "mad dog of the Middle East". In keeping with the negative image of Gaddafi held by the West, writer Tahar Ben Jelloun was quoted as saying:

However, some were more supportive of Gaddafi's regime and ideology. Yasser Arafat, who aligned himself with Gaddafi for much of his career, said Gaddafi was the "knight of revolutionary phrases". On Gaddafi's resistance to the 2011 uprising, Cuba's Fidel Castro commented that, "If he resists and does not yield to their demands, he will enter history as one of the great figures of the Arab nations." Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez -- one of Gaddafi's few allies on the international stage—said that the former Libyan leader will be remembered “as a great fighter, a revolutionary and martyr" on 20 October 2011. Manny Ansar, director of a popular annual music festival in Mali, said:

During a meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, he was said to be highly curious, asking a lot of questions and being especially interested in Malaysia's economic success. The attacks on Gaddafi's image became less common as his relations with the West improved. He modeled many of his political ideals from the likes of Kwame Nkrumah, Gamal Abdul Nasser and Mao Zedong.

Gaddafi and his government helped finance Moustapha Akkad's film Lion of the Desert (1981) starring Anthony Quinn as Libyan resistance leader Omar Mukhtar.

In contrast to his often negative image in the West, Gaddafi's image has mostly been positive in much of Africa, where he is often seen as a "hero". Nelson Mandela, whose Anti-Apartheid Movement was supported and funded by Gaddafi, remained a close friend, named his grandson after Gaddafi, and helped him gain mainstream Western acceptance in the 1990s. Following Gaddafi's death, Mandela was quoted as saying, "In the darkest moments of our struggle, when our backs were to the wall, Muammar Gaddafi stood with us."

Gaddafi funded the construction of and supported two mosques in Africa. One is the largest mosque in Uganda, located on Kampla Hill in the Old Kampala district of Kampala, Uganda. The other being the Freetown Central Mosque at Rokupa in the east-end of Freetown, Sierra Leon where a vigil was held when he died.

In his own estimation, Gaddafi considered himself an intellectual and philosopher. His former aides said he was "obsessive" about his image. He gave gold watches with images of his face to his staff as gifts. In 2011, a Brazilian plastic surgeon told the Associated Press that Gaddafi had been his patient in 1995 to avoid appearing old to the Libyan people. He was known for a flamboyant dress sense, ranging from safari suits and sunglasses to more outlandish outfits apparently influenced by Liberace or Hollywood film characters. He changed his clothing several times each day, and according to his former nurses, "enjoy surrounding himself with beautiful things and people."

He hired several Ukrainian nurses to care for his and his family's health. Beginning in the 1980s he traveled with his Amazonian Guard, which was all-female, and reportedly was sworn to a life of celibacy. (however, Dr. Seham Sergheva claimed in 2011 that some of them were subjected to rape and sexual abuse by Gaddafi, his sons, and senior officials). In 2009, it was revealed that he did not travel without his trusted Ukrainian nurse Halyna Kolotnytska, noted as a "voluptuous blonde". Kolotnytska's daughter denied the suggestion that the relationship was anything but professional. Gaddafi also allegedly made sexual advances on female journalists.

Gaddafi made very particular requests when traveling to foreign nations. During his trips to Rome, Paris, Moscow, and New York, he resided in a bulletproof tent, following his Bedouin traditions. While in Italy, he paid a modeling agency to find 200 young Italian women for a lecture he gave urging them to convert to Islam. According to a 2009 document release by WikiLeaks, Gaddafi disliked flying over waters and refused to take airplane trips longer than 8 hours. His inner circle stated that he could only stay on the ground floor of buildings, and that he could not climb more than 35 steps.

The Libyan postal service, General Posts and Telecommunications Company (GPTC), has issued numerous stamps, souvenir sheets, postal stationery, booklets, etc. relating to Gaddafi.