A figure of ridicule who tormented the West

FOR four decades, the willful, mercurial figure of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has been a thorn in the side of the West.

Branded “mad dog” by Ronald Reagan, the outlandish antics, flamboyant dress and bombastic pronouncements of the self-styled “Brother Leader” at times made him seem a figure of ridicule.

During his travels abroad he was accompanied by a blonde Ukrainian nurse and insisted on staying in his Bedouin tent, protected by his team of glamorous, gun-toting female bodyguards.