LIBYA (2002)

The Libyan leader Khadaffi – who has been in power for 33 years now – has the reputation of being ‘the mad dog of the Middle East’, as he was called by Ronald Reagan. He is alleged to have been involved in the bombing of a passenger aeroplane over Lockerby and in the production of weapons of mass destruction. But the Khadaffi of today poses as a diplomat and tries to bring reconciliation between the Palestinians and Israelis. Together with the West he struggles against Al-Qaida, and he wants to transform the Arab world into a sort of European Union. Paolo Pellegrin portrays the Tripoli (Libya’s capital) of today, which reflects the combination of the traditional and modern dictated by Khadaffi. He also photographed Khadaffi himself, a man whose sincerity is still in doubt.