An exposé of Abdullah Senussi commissioned by The Guardian on and based on my personal experiences with him and his son.Gaddafi's right-hand man should not be underestimated: Abdullah Senussi, shrewd, paranoid and honed by years of practising repression, is more than just a thug in a suit.As the Gaddafi regime continues to fight on in Libya, we must ask ourselves what kind of men constitute Muammar Gaddafi's inner circle of confidants and trusted allies. Are they thugs fighting to preserve their control over the spigots that pour black gold? Or do they believe that their cause is just and that the Gaddafi regime has genuinely inaugurated the era of the rule of the masses?How are we to judge Abdullah Senussi? It never entered into his shrewd and paranoid mind that a leaderless mob inspired by revolutions in neighbouring countries, armed with Twitter and videos taken on their mobile phones could threaten the Gaddafi regime. When faced with this unforeseen scenario, Abdullah Senussi and those around him naturally fell back on what they knew best: killing their opponents.
Abdullah Sanussi and Qaddafi's Inner Circle