Muammar Gaddafi’s Daughter Thrown Out of Algeria After Starting Fires in Safe House

Aisha Gaddafi was thrown out of Algeria for repeatedly setting fire to her safe house there, it has emerged

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Ismail Zitouny / REUTERS

Aisha Gaddafi, daughter of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, attends the end of the international women's Koran reading competition in Tripoli, Libya, on Aug. 30, 2010

The daughter of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was thrown out of Algeria after repeatedly setting fire to her safe house there.

Aisha Gaddafi was forced to flee Libya in 2011 after the uprising that killed her father, who had ruled the country for 42 years. She arrived, heavily pregnant, in Algeria with other family members after her husband, a Libyan army general, was killed along with two of their three children in a bombing raid. Algeria said it agreed to shelter the group because Aisha was so close to giving birth, and also because the International Criminal Court had not at that time issued arrest warrants for any members of the party.

(MORE: The Case of the Disappearing Gaddafis)

Algeria confirmed last month that Aisha, together with Gaddafi’s second wife Safia and sons Hannibal and Muhammad had left the presidential palace they had been given in the coastal region of Staoueli, close to Algiers, “a long time ago,” leaving their whereabouts unknown. But the Daily Telegraph reports that Aisha was kicked out of the country along with her family members because, among other misdemeanors, she kept setting fire to her residence in fits of rage over her situation. While there she also attacked her bodyguards, smashed furniture and destroyed a portrait of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika — the latter act reportedly being the last straw.

A government source in Algiers told local newspaper Ennahar:

She ended up blaming Algeria for many of her problems, and also began starting fires in the house. Shelves in the library went up in flames, as she regularly attacked army personnel looking after her safety.

They have since been granted asylum “on humanitarian grounds” in Oman and have been living there since October 2012. Their expenses are being covered entirely by the Omani government, writes the Telegraph.

(MORE: Gaddafi’s Ghost: How the Tyrant Haunts Libya a Year After His Death)

Aisha is a western-educated lawyer who, according to the New York Times, once worked on Saddam Hussein’s legal-defense team. A striking bleach blonde who has been dubbed the Claudia Schiffer of North Africa, she, together with her siblings, enjoyed an opulent lifestyle while Gaddafi was in power, with the dictator’s children often given key governmental posts. Aisha and Hannibal are now wanted on Interpol arrest warrants issued at the request of Libya’s new government, notes the Daily Mail.

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