BBC: How can you adequately describe someone like Muammar Gaddafi? During a period that has spanned six decades, the Libyan leader has paraded on the world stage with a style so unique and unpredictable that the words "maverick" or "eccentric" scarcely do him justice.
His rule has seen him go from revolutionary hero to international pariah, to valued strategic partner and back to pariah again.
He has developed his own political philosophy, writing a book that is - in the eyes of its author, at least - so influential that it eclipses anything dreamt up by Plato, Locke or Marx.
He has made countless show-stopping appearances at Arab and international gatherings, standing out not just with his outlandish clothing, but also his blunt speeches and unconventional behaviour.
One Arab commentator recently called him the "Picasso of Middle East politics", although instead of Blue, Rose or Cubist periods, he has had his pan-Arab period, his Islamist period, his pan-African period, and so on. » | Martin Asser, BBC News | Saturday, March 26, 2011
