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February 23, 2012
Alice poster girl could be sacked for Qaddafi comments
Published: 30 Oct 11 13:03 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20111030-38537.html
Germany’s advertising world could soon be one long-legged blonde-haired beauty fewer, as the model in the Alice phone company adverts could be sacked for remarks she made about her relationship to Muammar Qaddafi’s son Mutassim.
- German support for new North Africa underlined (10 Jan 12)
- Libya wants to buy German ankle monitors (19 Dec 11)
- TV firms agree to turn down volume on adverts (7 Dec 11)
“It was a passionate story; we were together for four years,” the 23-year-old model told the Italian magazine Diva e Donna, speaking of her relationship with Mutassim, who was killed on October 20.
“At the moment everything disgusts me apart from Libya. I don’t like to think that it is true. It is all very sad.”
She said the Qaddafi family were “normal people.”
Foreign powers had interfered in the country, she said. “We – France and Great Britain – financed the rebels. The people don’t know what they are doing,” she said.
The Libyan people were not particularly poor nor fanatic, she said. “You must not believe everything you hear.”
Alice owner, the Spanish firm Telefonica, said it expected her to distance herself from the comments. Spokesman Albert Fetsch said they were private comments which in no way reflected the opinions of the company. “Everything is being considered,” he said of her future as poster girl for the Alice firm.
DPA/The Local/hc
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Your comments about this article:
Despite Libya's substantial oil revenue, prosperity has been spread to Qaddafi's family, friends and tribe but most of the rest of the country haven't seen much of it.
How quickly we forget about Tunisia, and Egypt, and Syria, and Yemen, and Bahrain, etc.. These movements have much more to do with the oppressed people in these countries than US dollars. The US, for one, didn't even want some of these dictators removed, like Mubarrak in Egypt or Ben Ali in Tunisia. So this goes much deeper than mindless peasants chasing a carrot on a stick.
As for this girl, she was some brutal warlord's wench, so what do you expect her to say? But, I would contend that if anyone's life is dictated by money, it would be hers. I'm sure she was dating Mutassim for his incredible personality, and stunning good looks, rather than for his money and power. You know the story, a girl from a small town in Germany falls in love with a brutal Libyan warlord with billions of dollars. It's a love story for the ages (*gag*).
whether or not this girl is "just a stupid model" like some of the previous comments were trying to imply. but she is right in one point: the Lybians were not poor, they have a relatively very high literacy level, and they were the only people in the world who did not have to pay taxes!!!
we will see what this new democracy brought to all these countries from west will bring... I would hope not, but i can only see that it will bring new civil wars (like in Iraq), and new more fanatic Islamic regimes, and this is already showing in Egypt and Tunisia and soon in Syria if they keep on persisting...
and what will this bring to christians and other minorities in the area???
being one of them i'm already scared about my future and my family there...
Quaddafi developed Libya's infrastructure and it's economy. Many of his close family members were complicit in the political agenda.
Quaddafi committed horrible things at different times in his career. Quaddafi was a tyrant. Following September 11 he became more allied to the anti-terror zealots in the U.S. which allowed his regime to develop normalized relations with many powerful nations. Quaddafi was eccentric and clearly people in Libya were tired of his rule.
Regional discontent seemed geniune, but obviously the rebels would have lost if they had not collaborated with powerful allies.
He supported the struggle against the racist regime in South Africa. If he had been an egotist or evil he wouldn't have risked the wrath of the West to help the ANC both militarily and financially in the fight against apartheid. This was why Mandela, soon after his release from 27 years in jail, decided to break the UN embargo and travel to Libya on 23 October 1997. He did more for Africans than any other world leaders.
He was his own man to the end.
@derExDeutsche,you are correct, it will be interesting to see how this plays out, It may not be better but worse.
I think he felt betrayed as a leader when the protest started and handled the situation poorly. Organizations like al-Qaeda moved in quickly and radicalized the protest, and gave the West a golden opportunity to get rid of an independent and non compliant leader.
Anyone interested in learning some of the backstory should watch the fascinating video on youtube called "The Maltese Doublecross", which deals with Lockerbie. The quality isn't great and it is long and complex story, but absolutely worth the effort, I saw this about 15 years ago on Britsh TV and was shocked.