The discarded image

Written when Gaddafi was still in power in Libya.

"My vision" is a book by French professor Edmond Jouve, who is personally acquainted with both Gaddafi's daughter Aicha and his son Saif al-Islam. He has also met Gaddafi himself on a number of occasions, and could be considered an admirer or "fellow traveller". "My vision" contains both reflections on Libya by Jouve himself, an interview with Gaddafi, and Gaddafi's entire "Green Book" as an appendix. Some material on the African Union, in which Libya aspires to a leading role, has also been included.

On one level, "My vision" is a remarkably silly book. Jouve comes across as a fat, frivolous and naïve scholar, dazzled by the dictator's propaganda and hospitality. He calls Gadaffi "The Guide", claims that Libya is a direct democracy, and attempts to paint a romantic picture of its leader, claiming that Gaddafi is a "son of the desert", a Sufi mystic who found the Path, a deep political thinker, and what not. Jouve is also incredibly vain, constantly informing the reader about his sumptuous meals and desserts at various Tripoli five-star hotels. The author boasts that Aicha Gaddafi has been his student, that his briefcase is a gift from Blaise Compaore (the president of Burkina Faso), and that he actually saw Ahmed Ben Bella during a visit to one of the previously mentioned luxurious hotels. When Gaddafi gave an interview to Jouve, he apparently let Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak wait longer than usual for his turn.

In other words, I think "My vision" is a book by the Libyan lobby!

On another level, however, the author gives a more sinister impression. I don't think Jouve is a left-winger, since he seems to admire Charles De Gaulle and other Gaullist presidents of France. At one point, he asks Gaddafi why Libya hasn't joined the Francophonie! The real point of "My vision" is to promote Libya's turn towards the West, and here, the good professor shows his true colours. Jouve mentions Libya's payments to the victims of the Lockerbie bombing, but never discuss the obvious implications (that Libya used to be a rogue state). He points out that Gaddafi is "realist", has abandoned the IRA and aided British intelligence to uncover IRA's secret networks. The author freely admits that Gaddafi at one point wanted to create an African empire, together with shadowy characters such as Bokassa and Mengistu Haile Mariam (quite a combination), but seems fascinated rather than repelled by this fact. Nor is Jouve unaware of Libyan racism against Black Africans or the spread of Muslim fundamentalism in the country (even Aicha has began to wear the veil). Indeed, Jouve actually asks The Guide about this during the previously mentioned interview. He does let Gaddafi get away with evasive responses, but clearly the author knows exactly what is really going on in Tripoli.

Who or what is Edmond Jouve? I don't know, but my guess is that the seemingly naïve fellow traveller is actually an ultra-Gaullist who wants France to collaborate with Libya rather than compete with it (the usual French policy), thereby creating a geopolitical Franco-Arab Grossraum in Africa. For all I know, the guy might actually be a French intelligence operative! His remark about the briefcase is telling. Blaise Compaore took power in Burkina Faso by overthrowing and assassinating Thomas Sankara, a left-wing radical who took strongly anti-French stances. Compaore seems to be on good terms with both France and Libya. Small wonder Jouve loves the occasional chit chat with this banana republic president.

"My vision" doesn't say much about Gaddafi, but it does give us a glimpse of Edmond Jouve's visions. What a pity Nicolas Sarkozy isn't a true Gaullist. As we know, France participates in the US attack on Libya and recently recognized...the rebels.

It seems Jouve's visions have been discarded. For now.