Though maybe the discovery isn't that surprising. Over the years, the Libyan leader's comments and actions related to the former secretary of state have raised a few eyebrows.
Consider how he talked about her in an interview with Al-Jazeera television in 2007, where he hinted that then-President George W. Bush's top diplomat wielded considerable influence in the Arab world.
"I support my darling black African woman," he said. "I admire and a.m. very proud of the way she leans back and gives orders to the Arab leaders. ... Leezza, Leezza, Leezza. ... I love her very much. I admire her, and I'm proud of her, because she's a black woman of African origin." The following year,
Qaddafi and Rice had an opportunity to meet when the secretary of state paid a historic visit to Libya — one that made steps toward normalizing relations after the United States went decades without an ambassador in Tripoli. (The US "doesn't have any permanent enemies," she said during the trip.) Qaddafi welcomed Rice in his home — one that President Ronald Reagan once ordered bombed in retaliation for Libya's attack on a German disco — for iftar. Once again, he repeatedly addressed Rice — "Condi" to her friends — as "Leezza," her aides said.
During the visit, he presented Rice with a diamond ring, a lute, a locket with an engraved likeness of himself inside and an inscribed edition of "The Green Book," a personal political manifesto that explains his "Third Universal Theory for a new democratic society." Together, the haul was worth $212,000. (Rules prevent her, or any other US official, from keeping gifts from foreign leaders — they generally end up in a warehouse, and some may turn up years later in a presidential library.) Flash forward three years, when Libyan rebels moved into Qaddafi's Tripoli stronghold and took control. There, left behind in the compound, was Qaddafi's dear Leezza, her image affixed to the pages of a photo book.
Rice did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the discovery of the photos. In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland was also asked about the album.
"I don't need to see the photos," she said. "But bizarre and creepy are good adjectives to describe much of Qaddafi's behavior. So (it) doesn't surprise me. It's deeply bizarre and deeply creepy, though, if it is as you described."
