Nuri al-Mismari | |
|---|---|
| نوري المسماري | |
 al-Mismari in the Plenary Hall of theUnited Nations building inAddis Ababa,Ethiopia during theAfrican Union Summit on 2 February 2009 | |
| Born | 1942 (age 83–84) |
| Occupations | politician, diplomat |
| Relatives | Ihab Al-Mismari (son) |
Nuri al-Mismari (Arabic:نوري المسماري; born 1942) is the former Chief of Protocol of former Libyan leaderMuammar Gaddafi.[1][2] Known as one of Gaddafi's closest aides, al-Mismari was a key member of his inner circle and served under him for 40 years.[3][4]
A grandfather and a father to many, Nuri Al Mismari was born in 1942 inTripoli. He comes from a prominent family as his father was a minister in theKingdom of Libya underIdris of Libya. He is from theMasamir tribe.[2] One of his sons was shot under mysterious circumstances in 2007 and the death was ruled a suicide.[2] He speaks fluentEnglish,French andItalian, in addition to his nativeArabic.[2]
He was seen as the "gatekeeper" to Gaddafi and one of a small group of officials with access to Gaddafi's tent. Distinguished by his dyedblonde hair and goatee and ceremonial uniform, he was often seen standing next to Gaddafi at public events and shepherding visitors to Gaddafi.[1][2] Ahotelier by trade, he was in charge of coordinating visits by foreign heads of state to Libya (including lodging at palaces), overseeing Libya's payments to Gaddafi's children, and managing Gaddafi's fleet of airplanes.[5][6][2]
He was considered a pro-free market reformer aligned with Gaddafi's sonSaif al-Islam within the Libyan ruling elite.[6] In 2008, Mismari played a minor role in reuniting a British woman with her daughter after her ex-husband abducted their daughter and took her to Libya.[7]
On 21 October 2010, Mismari fled toFrance after stopping byTunisia.[6][8] He was last seen with Gaddafi at the Arab-African summit inSirte on 9 and 10 October 2010. It was alleged Gaddafi had insulted Mismari at the summit.[2] His defection was not publicized until 28 November 2010, whenLibya issued an international arrest warrant against him. He was arrested inParis at the request of Libya, which alleged he was involved inembezzlement. Mismari was subsequently the subject of an international incident between Libya and France when it was alleged that he had defected to France.[9] His supporters in Libya, including sources close to Gaddafi's reformist sonSaif al-Islam, countered that Mismari only went to France to undergoheart surgery and wasset up amid a power struggle within Gaddafi's inner circle.[1][2] According toFrancois Bechis of the Italian newspaperLibero, Mismari gave extensive information while under French custody, claimed that he had connections within Tunisian dissidents, pinpointed the weaknesses of the Gaddafi regime, and was formally seeking asylum in France.[10][6][11] Foreign MinisterMoussa Koussa was held responsible for Mismari's defection and, anticipating more potential defections, Gaddafi confiscated the passports of several senior officials, including Koussa.[12][10]
On 15 December 2010, Mismari was released from French custody to theHôtel Concorde Lafayette and his extradition hearing was subsequently postponed as the French judge requested more information from Libya.[13] On 16 December 2010, Gaddafi sent Abdallah Mansour, the head of Libyan state media, to lure Mismari back to Libya. Instead, Mansour was arrested at theHotel Concorde Lafayette.[14][6] On 23 December 2010, a delegation of anti-Gaddafi Libyans (Farj Charrani, Fathi Boukhris, and Ali Younes Mansouri) arrived in Paris to dine with Mismari, yet sources close to Mismari claimed he had resumed his "normal functions" as Head of Protocol and was preparing to return to Libya.[15][11][16][17]
Due to theLibyan Civil War breaking out in February 2011, Mismari was never extradited to Libya.[18] In February 2011, one of Gaddafi's sons,Mutassim, allegedly came to Paris to ask him to return to Libya to no avail and Mismari subsequently tendered his resignation as Chief of Protocol from exile.[18][6] As of 2013, he was still living in Paris.[3]
In February 2011, his son,Ihab El-Mismari, a high-ranking diplomat representing the Libyan embassy inCanada, resigned in protest over Gaddafi's crackdown of protestors in the early phase of theLibyan Civil War.[19] Ihab was not among the five Libyan diplomats expelled from Canada in May 2011.[20]
In March 2011, Mismari predicted that Gaddafi would fight to the end in theLibyan Civil War rather than step down, commit suicide, or go into exile.[21] He also alleged thatSilvio Berlusconi,Prime Minister of Italy, had sentescorts to an unidentified African leader to help Gaddafi get elected asChairperson of the African Union in 2009.[22][23]
On 30 April 2011, Gaddafi's sonSaif al-Arab and three grandchildren were killed by a French airstrike, and it was alleged that Mismari had given away the locations of Gaddafi's secretsafe houses to the French.[24]
Mismari claimed that on two occasions, Gaddafiraped foreign visitors to Libya. The alleged victims were aNigerian woman and the wife of aSwiss businessman.[25] He also alleged that Gaddafisexually harassed the ex-wife of French PresidentNicolas Sarkozy,Cecilia.[25]
In a 2013 interview with French journalistAnnick Cojean, Gaddafi's Chief of SecurityMansour Dhao accused Mismari and Mabrouka Sherif of being the primary facilitators of Gaddafi's alleged "sexual abuse". Dhao also accused Mismari of procuring prostitutes for Gaddafi and practicingblack magic.[26][27][28][29] Mismari was named in Cojean's bookGaddafi's Harem: The Story of a Young Woman and the Abuses of Power in Libya.[27]
In 2014, Mismari was interviewed byBBC for the documentary “Mad Dog – Qaddafi’s Secret World," where he alleged that Gaddafi was "terriblysexually deviant", kept underaged male and female sex slaves, and kept the body ofMansour Rashid El-Kikhia, formerLibyan Minister of Foreign Affairs, in a freezer.[4]
