Rarely can a host have been so happy to see the back of a guest as President Sarkozy will be today when Muammar Gaddafi and his caravan of 400 followers finally leave Paris.
For the French President and many Parisians, the five-day official visit by the Libyan leader has seemed endless.
Playing to his fans like an old rock idol, the recently redeemed colonel has revelled in provocation, insulting his hosts, snarling up traffic and indulging his whims. The last of these was a spot of pheasant shooting at Versailles. “His excellency is a great admirer of King Louis XVI”, the last regal resident of the palace, said an aide. The Supreme Guide of the Revolution, who was initially invited for two days, first asked to go foxhunting at Fontainebleau.
Colonel Gaddafi has also shown off his expertise in modern French history, lecturing his hosts for abusing the human rights of North African immigrants. “They brought us here like cattle to do hard and dirty work, and then they throw us to live on the outskirts of towns, and when we claim our rights, the police beat us,” Mr Gaddafi told an audience of admirers at the headquarters of Unesco. Unlike France, Libya has an impeccable rights record, he added.
He set up a bedouin tent, outside sarkozy's place.