Looters In Tripoli Uncover Muammar Qaddafi's Creepy Crush On Condoleezza Rice

This week we watched live as rebels in Libya took over Muammar Qaddafi's compound in Tripoli -- and now we're getting a closer look at what they found (and took) from the dictator and his family's homes.

Some of the findings were no surprise:

Recognizable military garb, Qaddafi's passport, a gold mermaid-shaped couch.

And a photo album filled with images of Condoleezza Rice.

Huh?

Apparently, the infamous Libyan leader's fondness for Rice was well-known -- according to the Washington Post, he told Al-Jazeera in 2007:

"I support my darling black African woman. 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."

Well, isn't that nice.

We're sure Rice was flattered -- of course by "flattered," we mean unbelievably uncomfortable and creeped out. In any case, as Jezebel's Irin Carmon points out, the timing couldn't be better for "Leezza."

Alongside Thursday's reports of the album, Rice's publisher also announced her memoir's November release date, "which might well have details of [her 2008] dinner with the dictator, since the warming of relations with Libya was considered a diplomatic coup at the time."

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The Journalists Being Held Hostage In A Tripoli Hotel Have Been Freed

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CNN's Matthew Chance has just tweeted that the journalists who were being held hostage by loyalist forces in the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli have been had been freed.

About 36 foreigners including the BBC's Matthew Price have been barred from leaving the hotel for nearly 5 days.

Earlier today Price told BBC's Radio 4 that conditions in the hotel were becoming "desperate" as food and water ran out and occupants were prevented from leaving by loyalist forces bearing guns.

Chance appeared on CNN a short time ago to report that everyone had now been freed and that no injuries had been reported.

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Rebels Storm Qaddafi's Compound In Tripoli

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Image: AP

Reuters reports Libyan rebels are firing into air inside the Qaddafi compound in Bab al-Aziziya in celebration.

A Russian official says he spoke to Qaddafi by phone and that he says he is in Tripoli and will fight to the end, according to Reuters.

Libyan rebels have gained control of much of Tripoli, but loyalist units are digging in and fighting back.

While many believe the fall of Qaddafi is close, he remains at large and his son Saif al-Islam made a surprise appearance at the Rixos hotel Tuesday taking journalists on a tour of the city.

Following the tour he spoke to loyalists throughout Tripoli.

Meantime rebels are rounding up suspected loyalists causing endless anxiety to Tripoli residents.

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