By Mark L. Ufkes

In 1977, while I was student body president at Washington State University (W.S.U.), I befriended several foreign students from Libya. WSU was considering a trade and agricultural technology mission to that North African country, proposing to assist the Libyans in starting an agricultural university there. As student body president, I was included in the delegation to Libya that also included the President of the WSU Board of Regents, the Mayor of Spokane, and the deans of several WSU colleges and departments.

We spent 10 days in Libya as guests of the government, and traveled extensively throughout the country. During the last evening of our visit, we had an audience with Qadhafi, gathering in his palace for tea. This was the same palace that was bombed by our government two years later.

Qadhafi was in his mid 30s during our visit, and had been in power since leading the generally bloodless “September revolution” coup nine years before, at the age of 28. He was closer in age to me than to the vast majority of the 12-member delegation.

For some reason Qadhafi and I hit it off. He clearly understood my many questions in English, but only answered in Arabic. We talked of religion and the role of God in our lives, and the important role that college students can play in changing society. He asked many questions about the role of college student leaders in our country, and wanted me to understand that college students there are invited to assist in setting government policies.

We talked about the wonderful agricultural and economic development opportunities that existed all across Libya, and I modeled my beautiful woolen cleric’s shawl that had been given to me by the students at the University of Tripoli.

In 1969, Qadhafi overthrew King Idris, a monarch who wasn’t even born in Libya and who had been installed by the European powers. Qadhafi was the first Arab leader to take full control over its oil resources, and then contracted back to the private sector for development. Other countries, such as Saudi Arabia followed Qadhafi’s lead in exercising more direct control over oil development. Now, almost all oil exporting countries use the same model.

During our discussion about God, Qadhafi asked me if I had read the Quran. I had not, and turned to our facilitator, a WSU Ph.D student from Libya and asked if he could arrange for me to borrow a copy upon my return to the U.S. Qadhafi whisked his hand towards an assistant, who returned with a beautifully-bound copy of the Quran, in gold colored lettering, with Arabic and English translation on each page. Smiling, he said that I should not have to “borrow” a copy of the Quran, and needed a copy of my own. He also gave me copies of his “Green Book”, filled with his writing on political and economic philosophy. As a religious socialist, he asked that I provide copies to the political science department at WSU, which I did.

During our final goodbyes, he asked of there was any other questions. I love libraries and had spent considerable time studying about Libya prior to the trip, so I asked him why he supported terrorism. Only a 22-year old college student could get away with such a question to this “President”. He became very serious, and stated that Libya only supported “freedom fighters, people who were fighting for their country”. He used this term before our own President Ronald Reagan used this same term to justify our military actions in Central America a few years later.

I then pointed out that Libya allowed hijacked planes to land there, and that hijacking was a form of terrorism. He stated that he allowed the hijacked planes to land because he wanted to end the act and protect the people on board the plane. I then shared that we Americans saw his action differently, and that when terrorists have a place to land a hijacked plane, they see it as support for their cause, and will continue hijacking planes.

As we were shaking hands good bye, I leaned over and whispered in his ear to continue on the path of Gamel Abdul Nasser, the famous Egyptian leader who began the Pan Arab movement, whose photo was seen throughout the palace. Nasser spent his life working to promote and unite Arab cultures for their wonderful history and contributions to the world. Qadhafi was moved by this comment and embraced me warmly.

Three months later, the president of the WSU Board of Regents, who was with us on the trip, called me at my student government office and said, “Mark, did you hear what happened today. An Italian airliner was hijacked, and Qadhafi did not allow it to land in Libya. I think you had an impact on him”

Upon my return to the U.S., I worked to invite a panel of world leaders to WSU to discuss the Middle East, and considered inviting Qadhafi as a member of that panel. Calls from the State Department, and a visit by the Jewish Defense League, (a story for another time) stopped that discussion, and introduced me to the first real exercise in silencing public discussion, if such discussions are perceived to be outside of American geopolitical interests.

The Qadhafi government is linked to some terrible things, and these should not be trivialized. The Lockerbie Pan Am 747 bombing in 1988, that killed hundreds of innocents over Scotland, was especially terrible. A Libyan government official was closely involved in creating that sadness.

So what is going to happen to Qadhafi? I do not know how this will end. What I do know is that with his history, he will not be willing to live out his life as a fallen political leader, and other than a small group of African countries, he has nowhere else to go. He will not want to end his life in the pitiful manner that Saddam ended his. And he is a fighter and sees himself as a revolutionary. I fear that this drama is only starting.

Mark L. Ufkes (WSU - BA 1977, BS 1985, MA 1987)
White Center, Seattle, WA ©

Editors Note: Mark Ufkes is the President of the White Center Chamber of Commerce.