He was supposed to be the dictator no one would ever miss. Treacherous and volatile, Muammer Gaddafi had far less diplomatic value than his neighbour, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, a dependable western ally. He did not compare to Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia, whose obsessive secularism had its attraction, too. And he could not compete even with Yemen’s Ali Abdullah Saleh, who at least had a sharp sense of humour.
他理應(yīng)是無人懷念的獨(dú)裁者。穆阿邁爾?卡扎菲(Muammer Gaddafi)狡詐且喜怒無常,他的外交價(jià)值遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)低于其鄰國埃及前總統(tǒng)、西方的可靠盟友胡斯尼?穆巴拉克(Hosni Mubarak)。他也比不上突尼斯的宰因?阿比丁?本?阿里(Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali),后者對(duì)世俗主義的注重有其吸引力。他甚至都比不上也門的阿里?阿卜杜拉?薩利赫(Ali Abdullah Saleh),后者至少有很強(qiáng)的幽默感。