Since 1980’s Moammar Gadhafi was considered as the anathema of the west due to his sponsorship of terrorism in the world. During this period he was adorned as a villain or a protagonist in several western movies and novels which swelled the bank balances of the moviemakers and authors alike. The media too played a vital role in making a mutant terrorist out of Gadhafi.
But all that changed after Colonel Gadhafi decided to wind up his nuclear dreams in 2003 by dismantling the nuclear arms program. He further extended his repentance and benevolence by paying $2.7 billion to the families of victims of the 1988 Pan Am bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland in the same year. His volte face was obvious when he agreed to pay $170 million to the families of the 170 victims of the 1989 bombing of a French UTA passenger jet.
But the world was shocked, when Libyan court pronounced to administer the bitter pill of death sentence to five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian doctor accused of deliberately infecting hundreds of children with HIV at a Libyan hospital where they worked. Some experts then felt that Gadhafi is undoing the good work he has done to gain acceptance among the west. Even this gloom was cleared, when the six medics were freed earlier this year.
Gadhafi once again proved that he is a shrewd businessman, initially, when he tried to draw the attention of the world through bad publicity by sponsoring terrorism and later on he earned the goodwill of the west by compensating the victims of terrorism. The good will gestures quickly brought him friends in the form of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Spain Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
In the recent visit to France by Gadhafi, he was able to seal trade deals amounting to billions of dollars. France is the first western country to host and support Libya since 1980 and Sarkozy even defended the action by stating that the world should encourage countries those which are seeking international respectability.
Gadhafi’s visit to Spain with his 200 entourage has further sealed trade deals beneficial to both the nations. This is a clear sign of rapprochement the west is looking forward to, by leaving the past behind and moving on.