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'Gaddafi son paid Mariah Carey USD 1 mn for singing 4 songs'
New York, Feb 23 (PTI)

Offering a vivid account of the Gaddafi clan's ''lavish spending,'' US diplomatic cables leaked by WikiLeaks show that one of the sons of the Libyan ruler paid singer Mariah Carey a whopping USD 1 million to sing just four songs at a bash on a Caribbean island.


"All of the (Muammar) Gaddafi children and favourites are supposed to have income streams from the National Oil Company and oil service subsidiaries," according to a cable from 2006 obtained by the whistle-blower website, 'The New York Times' reported.

The report said the WikiLeaks cables gave an account of the Gaddafi clan's "lavish spending, rampant nepotism and bitter rivalries."

68-year-old Gaddafi has come under a great deal of international criticism, in recent days, for a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters demanding an end to his 41-year-rule.

The cables showed that his sons spent millions of dollars to engage singers like Mariah Carey, Usher and Beyonce to sing at their banquets, the NYT said.

A "local political observer" in Tripoli told American diplomats that one son, Muatassim's "carousing and extravagance angered some locals, who viewed his activities as impious and embarrassing to the nation."

After New Year's Day 2009, Western media had reported that another Gaddafi son Seif had paid Mariah Carey USD 1 million to sing just four songs at a bash on the Caribbean island of St Barts, the NYT noted.

Seif indignantly denied the reports in the newspaper controlled by him, saying the big spender was his brother, Muatassim, also Libya's national security adviser, the paper said, quoting an American diplomatic cable from Tripoli.

Another brother, Hannibal, had fled London after being accused of physically abusing his wife, Aline.

One of Gaddafi's daughters Ayesha, along with the Libyan leader's second wife Safiya "advised Aline to report to the police that she had been hurt in an 'accident' and not to mention anything about abuse," the cable said.

However, the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation had also sent hundreds of tonnes of aid to earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

But now, the protesters want the entire family gone.
It was Seif, NYT pointed out, who declared on Monday that Libya faced a civil war and "rivers of blood" if the people did not support his father.

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[ALIGN=CENTER][TABLE1="width:95%;"][CELL="filter:;"][ALIGN=center]Nelly Furtado announced on Twitter that she would donate the $1 million she was paid by the Gaddafi "clan" in 2007 to play a concert at an Italian hotel.[/ALIGN][/CELL][/TABLE1][/ALIGN]