Yesterday I noted that Libya’s Col. Muammar Gaddafi had disappeared for 11 days following a NATO air strike that killed his son. Some on the streets of Tripoli had begun to wonder if the two bombs that struck that house — Gaddafi was there also — might have killed the Libyan leader as well.
Gaddafi, understandably, appears to be a reader of Battleland and sought to prove that reports of his possible death had been greatly exaggerated. C.J. Chivers wrote in the New York Times today that late yesterday Gaddafi made sure his distinctive mug appeared on TV.
Colonel Qaddafi reappeared briefly on Libyan state television on Wednesday night. Wearing dark sunglasses, he gestured to his audience and said, “We tell the world: those are the representatives of the Libyan tribes.” The broadcast appeared to have been fashioned to quell rumors about his health and to indicate that he retains support among some of Libya’s fractious tribes.
