Gaddafi to Arrive in Banjul Today

The leader of the Libyan Al Fateh Revolution and current Chairman of the African Union His Excellency Maumar Al Gaddafi will visit The Gambia from today Tuesday 21st July, 2009 to Thursday 23rd July, 2009 as Special Guest of Honour at the 15th Anniversary of the July 22nd Revolution, a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Gambians Abroad stated.
According to the release, the visit of the leader of the Libyan Al Fateh Revolution, the Chairman of the African Union, and King of African Traditional Kings is at the invitation of His Excellency, Sheikh Professor Alhagi Dr. Yahya A.J.J Jammeh, the President of the Republic of The Gambia

His Excellency, brother, leader, who will arrive in Banjul this morning at 11:45am, will be accompanied by a very high-powered delegation and all Gambians are kindly urged to ensure that our Special Guest of Honour and the party are given a most befitting welcome," the release added.

Born in the Libyan desert, near Sirte in 1942, Col. Gaddafi is the longest-serving leader in both Africa and the Arab World, having ruled Libya since he toppled King Idris in a bloodless coup at the age of 27.

His birthplace was near Surt in the desert region of Libya, bordering the Mediterranean along the Gulf of Sirte. He was the last child and only son in his family, people of modest means who belonged to the Bedouin tribe of the Qadhdhafa, which was engaged in animal herding. The cultural traditions of the desert certainly influenced Gaddafi's and his sociopolitical ideas.

Known for his flamboyant style of dressing and gun-toting female body guards, the Libyan leader is also considered a skilled political operator who moved swiftly to bring his country out of diplomatic isolation.

In line with the "Third Universal Theory" of his Green Book, Gaddafi reconstructed Libyan political, economic, and military systems, ostensibly on direct democratic principles and Quranic tenets, to produce the Libyan People's Jamahiriya.

He was head of the revolution that set up the Libyan Republic in 1969. In the Libyan "Jamahiriyya", of which he was always the leader, Al-Gaddafi wanted to realise fully his concept of government by the masses. He laid out his political philosophy in the 1970s in his Green Book, which charted a home-grown alternative to both socialism and capitalism, combined with aspects of Islam.

In 1977, he invented a system called the "Jamahiriya" or "state of the masses", in which power is meant to be held by thousands of "Peoples Committees". The Libyan leader's singular approach is not limited to political philosophy. On foreign trips, the Libyan leader has been well-known for setting up camps in a luxury Bedouin tent and is accompanied by armed female bodyguards, said to be considered less easily distracted than their male counterparts.