Nurse lifts lid on Gaddafi lifestyle

Libyan leader, or ‘Papa’, is also a generous employer who likes to give gold watches to staff, says Oksana Balinskaya Muammar Gaddafi is in rude health, enjoys Italian food and couscous with camel meat and likes to give gold watches to his aides, according to a nurse who worked on the Libyan leader’s personal staff. Oksana Balinskaya returned to Ukraine after war broke out in the north African country. She said “Papa” – as she calls Gaddafi – was generous, giving watches featuring his image to staff every year. “We had no complaints,” she said. “When [we] were in New York, for example, Papa gave a personal order to give us some money so we could run around the local boutiques.” She denied rumours that another, more senior nurse from Ukraine, Galyna Kolotnytskaya, was romantically involved with Gaddafi. Kolotnytskaya, 38, also returned to Kiev at the end of February but has not given any public statements. She was described in US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks in December as a “voluptuous blonde”, one of Gaddafi’s closest confidantes and possibly his lover . However, Balinskaya said that was not true in an interview with the Russian daily, Komsomolskaya Pravda. “Galyna worked in the hospital that serviced Gaddafi’s family for eight years. She had the same responsibilities as the other nurses – there were five of us – but was more experienced. The things that have been written about her are made up.” Balinskaya also rubbished speculation that the Libyan leader is “not entirely well” – another claim made in a WikiLeaks cable. “Despite his age, he’s in better shape than a lot of people,” she said. “He looks after his health and has a check-up every year. As for his [blood] pressure, if only everyone could have that level.” Gaddafi was unfussy about food, she added. “He likes couscous, which is served to him with camel meat or lamb. And like all people in Libya, he loves Italian food, especially pasta.” Muammar Gaddafi Libya Middle East Ukraine Tom Parfitt guardian.co.uk

Posted by on April 5, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.