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Daad Muhammad Ahmad Sharab , ( February 14 , 1961 ) is a Libyan politician and diplomat from the Palestinian city of Tulkarm . She is considered one of the most prominent contemporary Libyan political figures, having served as an advisor to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi from 1988 until the outbreak of the Libyan Civil War in 2011. Throughout this period, she also served as Libya's envoy to the world, representing Libya in the most sensitive political negotiations between Libya and the world. Thus, she spent 22 consecutive years in her position alongside Gaddafi as his advisor, making her a witness to contemporary Libyan history. She is considered one of the closest politicians to the Libyan leader Gaddafi , and was known as "Gaddafi's right-hand woman."
Her upbringing and academic achievements
Daad Muhammad Ahmad Sharab was born on February 14, 1961, in Jeddah , Saudi Arabia, to a Palestinian family from Tulkarm . Her father had moved to Saudi Arabia in 1955 to work there. Daad received her education in Saudi schools , while she spent her summer vacation at her home in Tulkarm in the West Bank until the outbreak of the Six - Day War in 1967.
Daad says in her book “The Colonel and I”: “ My earliest memories are of playing on the sunny veranda of my grandfather Ahmed’s house in Tulkarm , while he watched me from his wooden chair and smoked his hookah. Those carefree days did not last, for after the Six-Day War in June 1967 I was unable to visit again. Eventually, the house was lost, along with precious family photos and other belongings . ”
In 1978, she moved with her father to Jordan , completed her secondary education there , and then enrolled at the University of Jordan, majoring in Economics and Business Administration.
Her political and diplomatic life
Daad Sharab began her political life on the sidelines of her participation in the Arab Women's Conference in Tripoli , Libya in March 1987. As a businesswoman with investments in Jordan , Libya, and other countries, Sharab met Naeema Al-Sagheer, who was the head of the Union of Women's Associations under Gaddafi's government. Naeema Al-Sagheer introduced Sharab to Gaddafi, and thus Sharab met Gaddafi for the first time. He initially offered her a job as his business advisor.
Throughout the twenty-two years that Daad spent in her position alongside Gaddafi , she was responsible for conducting official talks between Libya and other countries, in addition to carrying Gaddafi's messages to heads of state and government. Throughout this period, she also served as Libya's envoy and representative in the most sensitive political negotiations between Libya and the world, such as the negotiations for the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi , whom Shar'ab visited in his prison in Scotland three times before his release. Daad frequently met with world figures, including Hillary Clinton , George H.W. Bush , Shimon Peres , Adnan Khashoggi , Al-Waleed bin Talal , Suha Arafat , Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein , James Baker , and many others.
In the aftermath of the 2008 Gaza War, Israel offered Libya the opportunity to act as a potential mediator between the Palestinians and Israelis to achieve peace. Sharab secretly traveled to Tel Aviv on an Israeli plane from Amman, the capital of Jordan , and met with Israeli President Shimon Peres . She initially refused to shake his hand, telling him, "You are killing Palestinians every day in Gaza. " He responded by saying that "Israel wants to resolve the Gaza and Palestinian issue." At the end of the meeting, Sharab shook hands with Peres, and they agreed to hold a meeting in Jordan between Libya and Israel . However, these efforts later failed, and thus this initiative did not yield any results.
Several months before the outbreak of the Libyan civil war in 2011, Gaddafi detained her in a place designated for detaining his sons and senior officials in his regime. King Abdullah II of Jordan personally asked Gaddafi to release her during the Jordanian king's last visit to Libya before the outbreak of the civil war in 2011 , but Gaddafi did not respond to this request.
During the Libyan Civil War in 2011, Daad was injured in a NATO airstrike on Libyan territory, and was also shot at while fleeing to Tunisia through the Libyan desert .
On Thursday, September 1, 2011, Daad arrived in Jordan from Tunisia , accompanied by Jordanian officials. Jordanian intelligence had been tasked with securing her transfer from Libya to Tunisia and then to Jordan, under the direct supervision of King Abdullah II of Jordan , who phoned Sharab the moment the Jordanian security team arrived in Libya to extract her. King Abdullah II had previously met with the Jordanian security team departing for Libya and instructed them to prioritize reaching Daad Sharab.
In an interview with the Jordanian newspaper Al-Rai on September 5 , 2011 , Shar'ab said that she "used to form and dismiss Libyan governments".
Honors
Daad received several honors, including "Honoring the Turkish city of Bodrum " by the city's mayor on September 22 , 2015.
Her works
In 2021, Sharab, from the United Kingdom, published her famous book in English entitled "The Colonel and I: My Life with Gaddafi" in which she talked about her personal life and secrets about the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi that were revealed for the first time.
They said about her
The head of Libyan intelligence, Moussa Koussa, described her as a "ticking time bomb" due to the nature of the information she possessed during her 22 years in office as an advisor to Gaddafi .
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Achievements and Awards
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