We all know that the arc of the international affairs universe is long but it bends toward self-parody.
To that end, quasi-deposed, quasi-exiled former strongman Moammar Gaddafi addressed Libyans by radio this evening from an unknown location claiming his withdrawal was but a “tactical move” in the face of NATO aggression.
In a perhaps inevitable development, Gaddafi also found time today to contact Russian head of the World Chess Federation, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, his long time chess partner, to let him know the latest on what was happening.
Late Update: TPM Reader DM writes in with some backstory on Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and explains why he and Gaddafi might be such buds …
I’m a Russia specialist and thought you might be interested in learning more about Gaddafi’s homeboy Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. First off he became President of a region of Russia called Kalmykia (or more properly, the Autonomous Republic of Kalmykia) back in the Yeltsin era and only lost his job in 2010. Back in those days regional rulers could often run their fiefdoms pretty much as they saw fit, and Ilyumzhinov was legendary for both his authoritarianism and his weirdness. He poured huge amounts of money building a tourist resort/mini-city based around Chess in the 1990s when Kalmykia was poor even by 1990’s Russia’s standards. He claims to have been abducted by aliens in 1997 and taken on a ‘mystical tour’ around the galaxy, a story he stands by till this day. Less amusingly, his aides killed an opposition journalist Larisa Yudina in 1998. Medvedev basically sacked him last year as ever since he gained the presidency of FIDE (the International Chess Federation) he’s generally treated his political roles as something of an afterthought. So – a bizarre, brutal and probably psychopathic man. Something of a good match for the Colonel I guess.
Oh, and technically he’s not a Russian. He’s a Kalmyk.
Hope this is useful, or at least brightens up someone’s day at the office.
