libya

Libyan Leader's Tent Continues To Cause Controversy

Today Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi addressed the United Nations General Assembly. Meanwhile his lodgings while in the U.S. continue to draw controversy. First he tried to stay at an estate in New Jersey, then he planned to say at the Pierre in New York. The latest twist in this saga had Kadhafi erecting a tent at a Bedford, New York home owned by Donald Trump's estate. A tent was erected but yesterday town authorities ordered workers to stop working on the tent because of the lack of a work permit. Trump's office has said, according to Bloomberg, that the property was leased "on a short-term basis to Middle Eastern partners who may or may not have a relationship" with Kadhafi.

Had Kadhafi just stayed inside a home he probably would not have caused quite so much of an uproar but he prefers to stay in a large Bedouin tent when he travels. His tent is luxuriously outfitted and decorated with lavish fabrics and wired for electricity, heat and satellite television (a picture can be seen at this article in the Daily Mail). Tents like this generally run into five figures to buy. He has taken his tent to Cairo, Rome, Paris and other cities in the past. He uses the tent to entertain guests and holding meetings, perhaps as a way of establishing a home field advantage no matter where he is.

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Tags: kadhafi, libya, qaddafi

No Room At The Inn For Gadhafi

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

It looks like Moammar Gadhafi won't be staying at the Pierre Hotel after all when he makes his trip to New York. It's been no easy task finding a place for the Libyan dictator to bunk. First he wanted to erect a luxury tent on a Libyan-owned property in New Jersey but later changed his mind and decided to stay at the Pierre. But protests have followed each new decision and now it looks like he will stay at the Libyan Mission to the United States instead, the one place in the area it seems he is actually welcome. In a related story, the Helmsley Hotel canceled a banquet when it learned Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was on the guest list.

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Tags: gadhafi, libya, moammargadhafi, qaddafi

Libyan Dictator Designs "World's Safest Car"

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Celebrity Design

There's only a handful of countries known for building cars. Most of them are in Europe or the Far East. Colonel Muammar Gaddafi wants to add Libya to that list, and this is what he's cooked up to do it. Called the Libyan Rocket, the car was designed to solve the problem of high instance of road deaths in the north African country. Gaddafi's people say it's the safest car ever made, but don't go into any details to back up the claim. Still, the Colonel's revolutionary government is building a plant in Tripoli to put it together. We've heard of stranger things, but not many.

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Tags: false, gaddafi, libya, libyan rocket, LibyanRocket, muammar qaddafi, muammargaddafi, MuammarQaddafi, tripoli

Chopard To Provide Special Watches For Libyan Leader Gaddafi's 40th Anniversay On 'Throne'

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Swiss Chopard luxury watch and jewelry maker has just taken a substantial order from highly controversial Libyan 'supreme leader' Muammar Gaddafi. The move was politically interesting, because Gaddafi was very ticked at the Swiss because his son Hannibal Gaddafi was arrested in Geneva for something like crimes against humanity, or having the name "Hannibal." Gaddafi actually ordered a complete import embargo on all Swiss goods due to the arrest. Interestingly enough he made an exception for the large order from Chopard.

So what did he get? The order was for 250 limited edition watches valued at around 8 million Swiss Francs. They should each have the likeness of Mr. Gaddafi on them in some form and were ordered to celebrate his 40th anniversary of being in office there. Gaddafi, if evidenced by his love of "intense" sunglasses, will likely enjoy the blingy reminders of his "victories" over the competition for that long.

It is a tricky move for Chopard to accept an order from someone with such a spotty record on human rights and so forth. The company is known to be majorly hurting due to the weak economy, especially as it is pointed to the luxury industry. The move was likely due to the large amount of the order. You know what they say, desperate times call for despot orders.

Via Business Montres (in French)

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: 40th anniversary, 40thAnniversary, chopard, libya, Muammar Gaddafi, MuammarGaddafi, watch

Libya Plans Massive Eco-Friendly Tourism Area

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Green

In Libya, among the archaeological treasures of Cyrene in the Green Mountain region, Saif al-Islam Khadafi gathered a select group of dignitaries and journalists for the signing of a unique declaration for sustainable development in the region. The Cyrene Declaration marks the beginning of a regional conversation and development project designed to both the artifacts of prehistoric, Greek, Roman and Islamic antiquity in the region and help the sustainable development in the region. The plan is to make the Green Mountain area a carbon neutral green development zone that will cater primarily to tourism. The energy will come from wind and solar power, waste will be recycled and trash will be converted to biofuel. The buildings for hotels, resorts and villas will be designed to blend in to the landscape and the fragile Greek and Roman ruins will be protected.

The British architectural firm of Foster and Associates has been contracted to work on the project. We've been hearing a lot from this design firm, they designed the plans for Spaceport America, the diamond tower is Siberia and the carbon neutral city of Masdar in Abu Dhabi. The announcement of the project is meant to show that Libya is ready to join the drive for tourism, a move that we have seen other oil-producing countries such as Dubai make. Libyan coast, which has a virtually untouched ecosystem offers a unique opportunity for responsible development.

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Tags: cyrene, eco friendly, eco tourism, expire-images:2008-9-11, khadafi, libya