Condoleezza Rice photos found in Gadhafi compound

Associated Press

TRIPOLI, Libya

Libyan rebels who took control of Moammar Gadhafi’s sprawling compound made a surprising discovery in one of the buildings: a photo album with pictures of Condoleezza Rice.

Though maybe the discovery isn’t that surprising. Over the years, the Libyan leader’s comments and actions related to the former secretary of state have raised a few eyebrows.

Consider how he talked about her in an interview with Al-Jazeera television in 2007, where he hinted that then-President George W. Bush’s top diplomat wielded considerable influence in the Arab world.

“I support my darling black African woman,” he said. “I admire and am very proud of the way she leans back and gives orders to the Arab leaders. ... Leezza, Leezza, Leezza. ... I love her very much. I admire her, and I’m proud of her, because she’s a black woman of African origin.”

The following year, Gadhafi and Rice had an opportunity to meet when the secretary of state paid a historic visit to Libya — one that made steps toward normalizing relations after the United States went decades without an ambassador in Tripoli.

Gahdafi welcomed Rice in his home for the traditional meal that ends the daylight fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Once again, he repeatedly addressed Rice — “Condi” to her friends — as “Leezza,” her aides said.

During the visit, he presented Rice with a diamond ring, a lute, a locket with an engraved likeness of himself inside and an inscribed edition of “The Green Book,” a personal political manifesto that explains his “Third Universal Theory for a new democratic society.”

Together, the haul was worth $212,000. (Rules prevent her, or any other U.S. official, from keeping gifts from foreign leaders — they generally end up in a warehouse, and some may turn up years later in a presidential library.)