'I support my darling black African woman,' Qadhafi said of Rice in 2007. | AP Photos Qadhafi obsessed with Condi Rice?

Condoleezza Rice has an admirer in fugitive Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi.

Opposition fighters rooting through Qadhafi’s Bab al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli found a bizarre photo album filled with pictures of the former secretary of state.


MSNBC obtained pictures of the photo album, which show Rice at public events: giving speeches, standing at a podium, and meeting with foreign leaders. It appears that many of the photos are close-ups.

Rice and Qadhafi are no strangers — the two shared an intimate, late-night dinner together three years ago, as Qadhafi broke the Ramadan fast. “The strong scent of incense hung heavy in the air,” wrote The Washington Post in September 2008. “His [Qadhafi’s] face lit up when he saw Rice. … Gaddafi simply placed his right hand over his chest, a traditional and respectful welcome.”

At the time of their 2008 meeting, Rice was the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Libya since then-Vice President Richard Nixon visited in 1957.

In an interview with Al Jazeera in 2007, Qadhafi put his admiration for Rice in strange terms.

“I support my darling black African woman,” he said. “I admire and am very proud of the way she leans back and gives orders to the Arab leaders … Leezza, Leezza, Leezza. … I love her very much. I admire her and I’m proud of her because she’s a black woman of African origin.”

It must be noted that Qadhafi isn’t the only world leader with rumored affections for Rice. Canadian then-Foreign Minister Peter McKay was rumored to be one such leader when the two met for talks in 2006; former British Foreign Minister Jack Straw and former Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D’Alema have been subject to similar such rumors, says The New York Times.