Gus Lubin | Business Insider
With Libya on the brink of civil war, Wikileaks is releasing more disruptive documents.
Cables published in the past 24 hours reveal tensions among Muammar Qaddafi’s children, a positive take on lesser-known son Saadi el-Qaddafi and a bromance between Qaddafi and Hugo Chavez.
Qaddafi’s children are said to be engaged in ‘internecine warfare’ that will determine the country’s future:
Amid turmoil related to the 40th anniversary of the revolution, Muammar al-Qadhafi’s recent election as African Union chairman, proposed political-economic reforms and persistent rumors about al-Qadhafi’s health and the absence of a viable mechanism to orchestrate a succession, the sharp rivalry between the al-Qadhafi children could play an important, if not determinative role, in whether the family is able to hold on to power after the author of the revolution exits the political scene.
Among at least eight children, the heir apparent is Saif el-Islam Qaddafi who gave his own rambling incoherent speech last weekend. However, younger son Muatassim has risen in visibility after accompanying his father on diplomatic trips. Both of sons have a reputation for rebelliousness and womanizing.
Meanwhile, Qaddafi and Chavez think of each other as “revolutionary brothers”:
The two Presidents congratulated each other on their “revolutions,” with Chavez asserting, “What Simon Bolivar is to the Venezuelan people, Gaddafi is to the Libyan people.” Chavez also awarded Gaddafi the “Orden del Libertador,” Venezuela’s highest civilian decoration, and presented him with a replica of Simon Bolivar’s sword. Gaddafi praised Chavez for “having driven out the colonialists,” just like he had driven out those in Libya. “We share the same destiny, the same battle in the same trench against a common enemy, and we will conquer.”
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The original version of the story appears here: http://www.businessinsider.com/wikileaks-libya-2011-2
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