Safia Farkash: Difference between revisions
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It is estimated that Farkash’s has an independent wealth of US$30Bn, which includes 20 tons of gold.<ref name=AlArabiya140415/> |
It is estimated that Farkash’s has an independent wealth of US$30Bn, which includes 20 tons of gold.<ref name=AlArabiya140415/> |
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Safia, thank you fr your email communication, I am looking forward to funds so that I can help people in need worldwide. It would give me pleasure to send funds to the charity U.N.E.C.E.F. Then the founder of that charity, Danny Kay the late film star who I have no doubt will monitor those funds so that they are used for the needy and not for the Greedy. |
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Joseph Robert Neil Landrut. |
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==Relationship with Gaddafi== |
==Relationship with Gaddafi== |
Revision as of 17:26, 19 October 2011
Safia Farkash | |
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Born | |
Spouse | Colonel Gaddafi |
Safia Farkash (born Safia el-Brasai, aka Safia Farkash el-Brasai), is the second wife of ex-Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi, and mother to seven of his eight biological children. Her independent wealth is reported at US$30Bn.[1]
Early life
Farkash, from a family from Obeidat tribe from Eastern Libya and Hungarian origin, was born in Bayda, and trained as a nurse.[1]
She met Gaddafi when he was hospitalised and treated for appendicitis in 1971, and they were married in Tripoli in the same year.[2][3][4]
Family
The couple have seven biological children of their own, one step-son from Gaddafi's first marriage, and two adopted children:
- Muhammad al-Gaddafi: the only child born to Gaddafi's first wife. Ran the Libyan Olympic Committee.[2] On August 21, 2011, during what appears to be the endgame of the 2011 Libyan civil war, rebel forces of National Transitional Council claimed to have accepted Muhammad's surrender as they overtook into Tripoli.[5] This was later confirmed when he gave a phone interview to Al Jazeera, saying that he surrendered to the rebels and has been treated well.[6]
- Saif al-Islam Gaddafi: their first child. An architect by training, who was long-rumored to be Gaddafi's successor. He has been a spokesman to the Western world, and he has negotiated treaties with Italy and the United States. He was viewed as politically moderate, and in 2006, after criticizing his father's government, he briefly left Libya. In 2007, Gaddafi exchanged angry letters with his son regarding his son's statements admitting the Bulgarian nurses had been tortured.[7]
- Al-Saadi al-Gaddafi: a professional football player. On August 22, 2011, he was allegedly arrested by the National Liberation Army.[8] This turned out to be incorrect. In the late evening of August 22, 2011 he spoke with members of the international press.[9]
- Hannibal Muammar al-Gaddafi: a former employee of the General National Maritime Transport Company, a company that specialized in oil exports. He is most-known for his violent incidents in Europe, attacking police officers in Italy (2001), drunk driving (2004), and for assaulting his girlfriend in Paris (2005).[10] In 2008, he was charged with assaulting two of staff in Switzerland, and was imprisoned by Swiss police. The arrest created a strong standoff between Libya and Switzerland.[11]
- Al-Mu'tasim-Billah al-Gaddafi: a Lieutenant Colonel in the Libyan Army. He later served as Libya's National Security Advisor. He was seen as a possible successor to his father, after Saif Al-Islam.
- Saif al-Arab al-Gaddafi (known as "The sword of the Arabs"): appointed a military commander in the Libyan Army during the 2011 Libyan civil war. Saif al-Arab and three of Gaddafi's grandchildren were reported killed by a NATO bombing in April 2011. Like the death of Hanna, this is disputed by the organizations alleged to be responsible.[12]
- Khamis al-Gaddafi: served as the commander of the Libyan Army's elite Khamis Brigade[citation needed]
- Ayesha al-Gaddafi: Gaddafi's only natural daughter, a lawyer who joined the defense teams of executed former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi.[2] She is married to a cousin of her father's.
The couple also have two adopted children, Hanna and Milad.[13][14]
- Hana Moammar Gaddafi (name spelling per English language class certificate shown in reference)(claimed by Gaddafi to be his adopted daughter, but most facts surrounding this claim are disputed): apparently killed at the age of four, during the retaliatory US bombing raids in 1986 .[15][16] She may not have died; the adoption may have been posthumous; or he may have adopted a second daughter and given her the same name after the first one died.[17] Following the taking by rebels of the family residence in the Bab al Azizya compound in Tripoli, The Irish Times and the New York Times both reported evidence (complete with photographs) of Hana's life after her declared death, when she became a doctor and worked in a Tripoli hospital. Her passport was reported as showing a birth date of 11 November 1985, making her six months old at the time of the US raid. The Irish Times states that "Gaddafi used the story of Hana’s death to bolster the notion that he was a victim of western military aggression." The New York Times calls the killing claim apparently wrong.[18][19]
The family's main residence was in the Bab al-Azizia military barracks, located in the southern suburbs of Tripoli.
Business and other interests
Farkash kept a low profile during the initial period of her marriage to Gaddafi. However, after the release on license of Lockerbie bomber Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi in 2009, she took a more public profile. She organised a party covered by the local media to celebrate the anniversary of the 1969 revolution that brought her husband to power, and in 2010 attended the graduation of female police students.[1]
In 2008, Farkash was elected vice president to the African First Ladies Organization in a meeting of African Union leaders in Sharm al-Sheikh, even though she was not present at the meeting, and has never taken part in activities related to it.[1]
Farkash owns airline Buraq Air, headquartered at Mittiga International Airport. Operated with the approval of her husband, even though it is a rival of the Libyan national carrier, it monopolizes the transfer of Libyan Hajj pilgrims to Mecca.[1]
It is estimated that Farkash’s has an independent wealth of US$30Bn, which includes 20 tons of gold.[1]
Safia, thank you fr your email communication, I am looking forward to funds so that I can help people in need worldwide. It would give me pleasure to send funds to the charity U.N.E.C.E.F. Then the founder of that charity, Danny Kay the late film star who I have no doubt will monitor those funds so that they are used for the needy and not for the Greedy. Joseph Robert Neil Landrut.
Relationship with Gaddafi
It was often reported that Gaddafi enjoyed the company of young women. His own bodyguard, the Amazonian Guard, were entirely made up of trained female soldiers.
Many reporters also often suggested that Gaddafi relied heavily on his long-time Ukrainian nurse, Galyna Kolotnytska. Described by Gene Cretz, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, as the "voluptuous blonde, without whom Gaddafi never travels."[20] The characterization surfaced after the secret diplomatic cable sent by Cretz was revealed by WikiLeaks as a part of its United States diplomatic cables leak. The cable was sent from the United States embassy in Tripoli on September 29, 2009. It was also revealed that the Libyan government sent a private jet to ferry her from Libya to Portugal to meet up with the Leader during his rest-stop. Kolotnytska alone is said to have "known Gaddafi's routine."[21][22] Hence, some embassy officials and media reporters have claimed that Gaddafi and Kolotnytska had a romantic relationship, but this has been denied by Kolotnytska's daughter Tatyana and her mother Iryna.[23][24]
2011 Libyan civil war
Safia stayed with her husband and family through the 2011 Libyan civil war, at their home in Tripoli. After a first round of United Nations sanctions froze the overseas assets of Libya and those personally held by Gaddafi, the governments of France and the United Kingdom enabled a second round of sanctions, which froze an estimated £18Bn of state and personal assets control by Farkash.[25] In May 2011, she gave her first press interview to CNN reporter Nima Elbagir, via mobile telephone.[26]
As the Battle for Tripoli reached a climax in mid-August, the family were forced to abandon their fortified compound. On 27th August, it was reported by the Egyptian news agency Mena that Libyan rebel fighters had seen six armoured Mercedes-Benz sedans, possibly carrying top Gaddafi regime figures, cross the border at the south-western Libyan town of Ghadames towards Algeria,[27] which at the time was denied by the Algerian authorities. On 29th August, the Algerian government officially announced that Safia together with daughter Ayesha and sons Muhammad and Hannibal, had crossed into Algeria early on Monday 29th August.[27][28] An Algerian Foreign Ministry official said all the people in the convoy were now in Algiers, and that none of them had been named in warrants issued by the International Criminal Court for possible war crimes charges. Mourad Benmehidi, the Algerian permanent representative to the United Nations, later confirmed the details of the statement. The family had arrived at a Sahara desert entry point, in a Mercedes and a bus at 8:45 a.m. local time. The exact number of people in the party was unconfirmed, but there were “many children” and they did not include Colonel Gaddafi. Resultantly the group was allowed in on humanitarian grounds, and the Algerian government had since informed the head of the Libyan National Transitional Council, who had made no official request for their return.[29]
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Libya's first lady owns 20 tons of gold". Al Arabiya. 6 March 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
- ^ a b c Charkow, Ryab (22 February 2011). "Moammar Gadhafi and his family". CBC News. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
- ^ "CNN – Mandela hails South Africa election results – June 6, 1999". CNN. 6 June 1999. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
- ^ OMG: Gaddafi's Wife is Hungarian! - Pestiside.hu
- ^ "Little Resistance as Rebels Enter Tripoli". The New York Times. August 21, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
{{cite news}}
: Unknown parameter|coauthors=
ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ "Gaddafi Son in Libyan Rebel Custody". Al Jazeera. August 21, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
- ^ Libya'S Gaddaffi Angry With His Son For Admitting Torture Of Bulgarian Nurses - Bulgaria Abroad - The Sofia Echo
- ^ "Saadi Gadhafi, Hollywood Investor and Dictator's Son, Arrested". Reuters. 21 August 2011.
- ^ Ryan, Missy (23 August 2011). "Gaddafi son Saif at Tripoli hotel after arrest report". Reuters.
- ^ Bremner, Charles (4 February 2005). "Hannibal gives Gaddafi a bad name". The Times. London. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
- ^ Tages-Anzeiger, 17 August 2009; The Australian, 17 August 2009.
- ^ "Qaddafi Is Said to Survive NATO Airstrike That Kills Son" The New York Times 30 Apr 2011 [1]
- ^ "Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi v. [[The Daily Telegraph]]". 21 August 2002. Retrieved 9 August 2008.
{{cite web}}
: URL–wikilink conflict (help) - ^ The Gaddafi family tree, BBC News, 21 February 2011
- ^ See Accuracy in Media article here [2]
- ^ Hana Gaddafi, Libyan Leader's Presumed Dead Daughter, May Be Still Alive: Reports
- ^ Dental records for Hana Gaddafi reopen mystery of Libyan leader's daughter |
- ^ The Irish Times, 26 August 2011 here [3] and here [4]
- ^ Anthony Shadid (August 27, 2011). "Enigmatic in Power, Qaddafi Is Elusive at Large". The New York Times.
- ^ "All the Hottest Diplomatic Gossip From the Latest Wikileak". Gawker. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
- ^ "Gaddafi travels with blonde nurse". smh.com.au. 29 November 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
- ^ Adams, Guy; Sengupta, Kim (6 December 2010). "US forced to shake up embassies around the world after WikiLeaks revelations". London: Independent.co.uk. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
- ^ Template:Uk icon Донька української медсестри Каддафі розповіла про стосунки між ними (ФОТО), Gazeta.ua (November 30, 2010)
- ^ Gathafi's 'voluptuous' Ukrainian nurse keeps mum, Middle East Online (28 February 2011)
- ^ "Britain seeks UN help to target Gaddafi wife's £18bn". ThisIsLondon. 19 April 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
- ^ CNN: First Interview with Gaddafi's Wife Safia |
- ^ a b Harding, Luke; Chulov, Martin; Stephen, Chris (29 August 2011). "Gaddafi's family escape Libya net to cross into Algeria". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
- ^ "Libya conflict: Gaddafi family 'flee to Algeria'". BBC News. 29 August 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
- ^ Fahim, Kareem; MacFarquhar, Neil (29 August 2011). "Qaddafi's Wife and 3 of His Children Flee to Algeria". Washington Post. Retrieved 29 August 2011.