Gadhafi interview 'unlike any other'
Libyan leader 'seemed very mellow'
From Andrea Koppel
CNN
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Gadhafi, left, walks alongside Koppel during an interview on Monday, December 22.
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CNN's Andrea Koppel tells the story behind her unusual interview with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. (December 27)
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President Bush announces that Libya has agreed to dismantle its weapons of mass destruction.
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Editor's note: In our Behind the Scenes series, CNN correspondents share their experiences in covering news around the world. Recently, CNN State Department Correspondent Andrea Koppel conducted an exclusive interview with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
TRIPOLI, Libya (CNN) -- Interviewing Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, who has been in power in Libya for the last 34 years, was quite an experience.
It took place earlier this week and it was unlike any other interview that I've ever done with a world leader in that there was not a set time.
We arrived in Tripoli on Sunday night, not knowing exactly when our interview would be. We made calls Sunday night, Monday morning, and then got a phone call about 11 a.m. telling us to get downstairs, which we did. We gathered our equipment and went down there. Then we were driven to a couple of different locations.
One of the locations was about 30 minutes outside of Tripoli, the capital where I am right now. We drove to several entrances. A lot of guards were there. Finally, we were ushered into what was a large, secluded rural compound. We waited outside of what we were told was a guest house, had some orange soda, and then finally, were brought over to a large tent.
Colonel Gadhafi is the son of a Bedouin and likes to think of himself still as having the roots to his people.
This was a very large tent, kind of a perma-tent build on concrete, complete with flies, which is why during the interview, you saw Colonel Gadhafi, even myself trying to swat the flies off our face.
Usually when I've done interviews with world leaders, they like to sit in formal chairs. There were a couple nice chairs there with fabric on them we had set up. We were told by his colleagues, no, no, no, the leader likes to sit in these plastic chairs, the sort you would see on your patio year round.
On the table in front of him there was the green book, which is the equivalent for the Libyans of the little red book in China, with all of the leader's quotations and various sayings. There was a small book, also, on his vision for an Israeli/Palestinian state known as Israeltine.
There were three pens, and also a sunglasses holder, because the leader likes to wear sunglasses.
When he pulled up for the interview again, we didn't know how he would arrive. He pulled up in what looked like a jeep or Range Rover. He was in the front seat next to the driver. He got out wearing a maroon outfit with a cape over his arm and just kind of walked up and shook my hand, and then the interview began.
He was very subdued. I have seen him give very fiery, very vitriolic speeches over the years. This was a man who was extremely calm.
He speaks fluent English. And in our interview he did respond some questions in English, but then he switched to Arabic.
CNN State Department Correspondent Andrea Koppel
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He seemed very mellow, to be quite honest. He looked to be quite a bit younger than the 60-some odd years that he is believed to be. And he also seemed to be almost laid back.
Again, I know that some of our colleagues have interviewed him when he was very aggressive and in their face. That was not the Moammar Gadhafi I experienced during our hour-long chat.
