Gadaffi: The Desert Mystic

Accused of fostering international terrorism and contravening the stability of the Middle East, Muammar Khadafy has been viewed as a threat by the West for some 20 years. The author of this sprawling, superficial look at Libya and its leader argues that the U.S. has overestimated Khadafy's danger, underestimated his achievements and distorted his character. The Libyan's motives have been ``in the main, admirable,'' according to Tremlett, a British MP during the '70s and '80s. He contends that Colonel Oliver North's anti-Khadafy campaign during the Reagan years produced flimsy or false evidence to use as pretexts for several assassination attempts, most notably the 1986 raid by F-111s when the Americans tried to bomb Khadafy in his bed. The most convincing sections of the book deal with Tremlett's personal impressions of Libya, a country he claims would not survive without the foreign technicians who shore up its fragile infrastructure. Photos. (Dec.)