Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Who Runs Libya: A Profusion of Names

Does anyone know who is the head of the so-called Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya– or even if the first letter of his surname name is A, E, G, K, or Q?


According to the New York Times, he is “Muammar el-Qaddafi,” to the Wall Street Journal he is “Moammar Gadhafi,” to the L.A. Time he is “Moammar Kadafi,” to Washington Post, he is

Moammar Gaddafi, to Reuters, he is “Muammar Gaddafi,” to Bloomberg, he is “Muammar Qaddafi,” the AFP, he is “Moamer Kadhafi,”, to the English edition of the Xinhua News Agency. he is "Muammar Khaddafi," to the US State Department, he is “Mu'ammar Abu Minyar al-Qadhafi,” to the CIA, he is “Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi,” to the US Ambassador in Libya, according to Wikileak, he is “Qadhafi Incorporated.” and to his official site he is “Muammar Al Gathafi".

Can this be a single person, or some kind of transliteration junta? And what is his–or their– job in the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (which means “masses” in Arabic)? CNN calls him “President,” the Boston Globe calls him “strongman,” the Sun (London) call him “dictator,” the Daily Mirror calls him “Mad Dog,” while the CIA factbook, somewhat understatedly, says that he “holds no official title, but is de facto chief of state.” Can Any (other than his voluptuous Ukranian nurse) clarify this issue?