Remembering The Colonel
Krishnan Srinivasan
When i arrived in Tripoli as charge d'affaires in early 1969 to open the embassy, the name of Muammar Gaddafi was completely unknown. Libya was under the mainly non-resident, benign and remote monarch King Idris, who preferred to reside in Tobruk near the Egyptian border, or in Italy. On September 1 that year, there were sounds like fireworks, and news that some young army officers had staged a bloodless coup.
After days of ambiguity, this group turned out to be a 12-member self-styled Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), comprising lieutenants and one captain, Gaddafi. The public face of the Council, who dealt with foreigners, was the putative 'thinker' of the group, Abdusalam Jalloud. The 11 promoted themselves to major and, in Gaddafi's case, colonel.
Changes were swift. Arabic replaced other languages, in street signs, shops, banks, post offices, everywhere. The American Wheelus airbase outside Tripoli was closed. Retail traders were suspected of profiteering. The large Italian community was expropriated and expelled. The cathedral was converted to a mosque. Alcohol was banned. Jalloud 'negotiated' unilaterally with oil companies and increased oil price from about $2 to $5, then considered a gigantic increase. Later, Jalloud and the Shah of Iran competed with each other to raise the price to still giddier heights.
.............Tripolitania rather than Cyranaica became the favourite province for the new regime. In foreign affairs, Gaddafi was a devoted follower of Nasser and, until Nasser died a year later, Egypt exercised some kind of moderation. Gaddafi offered to unite Libya with any Arab country that would accept this arrangement; only Sudan succumbed, temporarily. When Nasser`s restraint had gone, Gaddafi became autocratic, eccentric and megalomaniac, and the Arab League looked askance at this upstart who dared to assume a leadership position on the strength of money alone.
The Green Book of Gaddafi's 'philosophy' imitated Mao's Red Book. In came the female bodyguards, and ostentatious use of tents and camels to advertise his pastoral background. Pakistan became a favoured country, and was called upon to provide training for the air force. Gaddafi then looked to purchase influence in black Africa through cheque-book diplomacy, though this benevolence led to large promises rather than actual payments. He pioneered the premature move towards an African Union, with himself at the helm, which led to some African nations supporting him to the bitter end.
The foreign ministry in Libya was always impenetrable; under Gaddafi it was distinctly unhelpful towards any agenda other than his own. As the only Indian diplomat in Libya, i was first called to see Gaddafi to be presented a demand for a Libyan mission to visit India to study the condition of Muslims. I demurred. Gaddafi said it was only for fact-finding, there was no Libyan embassy in India, and this information could strengthen bilateral relations. New Delhi predictably refused. I returned to see Gaddafi with the rejection. He proved to be disinterested in the rebuff.
The second time i saw Gaddafi, also at his summons, was in mid-1971 when the Bangladesh war was imminent. He expressed great displeasure at India's support for the independence movement, and was dismissive of arguments about the democratic desires of the East Pakistanis. I pointed out that almost the entire international community supported the separatist movement, whereupon he argued that the Commonwealth was a military organisation out to vivisect Muslim Pakistan.
My last meeting with Gaddafi was with incoming ambassador, the late H J H Taleyarkhan. Our egregious ambassador extolled Indira Gandhi and the Congress's achievements to a completely vacant and inattentive Gaddafi.
Each of the three meetings was at the now-notorious Bab al Azzizia barracks, then a simple two-storied structure with a small compound. Security was minimal once the car was admitted into the compound. Gaddafi's office was on the first floor. His own room was small, with an army-style cot along a wall, a desk behind which he sat, a few chairs, and a banner with the Kalima-e-Tayyabah on the wall behind him. He was tall, with curly hair, gaunt face and hollow cheeks, and wore a khaki short-sleeved tunic without badges of rank. He spoke little and without any small talk. The only other person present was the interpreter.
In general, Gaddafi was interested only in Arab unity and African unity, and had little strategy or conception of international politics. As time went on, Gaddafi became harder and harder to meet. Indira Gandhi's special envoy in 1970, Moham-med Yunus, was kept waiting and not permitted access...
Indira Gandhi paid a brief visit to Libya in 1984; Gaddafi never set foot in India ............ Libya asked India for nuclear know-how, which was sidestepped, and our help to lift Security Council sanctions. The number of Indian expatriates rose from 5,000 in 1969 to 20,000 in 2011, but relations were never equable.
The wonder is that Gaddafi continued in power for so long; no one would have anticipated that in 1961. The only member of the original RCC who remained loyal to Gaddafi to the end was Abubakr Younis..........
The writer is a former foreign secretary.
Remembering The Colonel - The Times of India
