The soft diplomacy of Belgian chocolates

26 March 2008

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Emily Maitlis reports from Libya on a land newly entranced by our brands — even M&S — where the West tolerates Gaddafi for fear of the insurgent alternative

Has the West tamed Gaddafi? Both parties would deny it, and yet perhaps our countries would subscribe to and rewrite the old adage: better the dictator you know. Especially if he understands how to keep the insurgents at bay: because Hezbollah, Hamas, Iran and Iraq have taught us to fear what lies beneath the Middle Eastern sands of oppression. Democracy is not so easily bought in these parts of the world.

It is only as I fly home that I realise why my trip has felt so weightless — I have heard no voice of dissent the whole time. My companion on the BA flight is a Libyan in exile — imprisoned briefly for his part in an attempted coup. Like many of his generation he invokes the good times of the 1960s. But he’s not talking about free love. He’s talking about free speech. The summer of ’69 means something very different to Libyans. The year Gaddafi came to power.

Also in exile, in a Battersea art gallery to be precise, is Princess Alia Al Senussi, great-niece of the deposed King Idris. She’s gifted, beautiful and descended not just from monarchy, but from the Prophet Mohammed himself. The Senussi family sound like Libya’s answer to the Kennedy clan — with a little more God thrown in. Her father — next in line to the throne — has received overtures to return to Libya. ‘To rule?’ I ask. ‘Who knows?’ she says. ‘We don’t even know who’s really asking.’

It is a familiar default position: dictators desperate to secure their legacy have often lurched towards deposed royalty. But princesses, even ones from Battersea, are for fairytales. And I’m not sure those have a place in the Colonel’s Libya. I think back to the emerald sea of nationalist flags I left behind there. Yes, they love their green all right. Perhaps the M&S logo won’t look so out of place after all. But as for the Brand Gaddafi billboards? Somehow, I don’t think they’ll be changing any time soon.

Emily Maitlis Was In Libya As Part Of A Radio 4 Documentary Inside The British Council To Be Broadcast On 1 April At 8 P.m.