Qaddafi Exile Options Reach to Venezuela as Defections Rise
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Tunisia’s Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia after 28 days of protests. Demonstrators in Egypt needed 18 days to get Hosni Mubarak to retire to Sharm el-Sheikh. After almost seven weeks of war, Muammar Qaddafi’s exile options are more limited.
Uganda said on March 30 it would consider a request for political asylum, while Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez still calls the North African dictator a “friend.” The self-proclaimed “king of kings” may also find refuge in about a dozen African states, such as Zimbabwe, where he has ample investments and protection from prosecution for war crimes, diplomats and analysts say.