![Female libyan body guards](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Female_libyan_body_guards.jpg)
The Amazonian Guard (also the "Amazons") was an unofficial name given by Western journalists to an all-female
elite
In political and sociological theory, the elite (french: élite, from la, eligere, to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. D ...
cadre of bodyguards officially known as The Revolutionary Nuns ( ar, الراهبات الثوريات, ''ar-rāhibāt ath-thawriyyāt''), tasked with protecting the late, former leader of
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
,
Muammar Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...
.
Formation
The group was formed in the early 1980s, after Gaddafi's official resignation as Libyan head of state in favour of the title of "Brotherly Leader and Guide of the First of September Great Revolution of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya".
According to Joseph T. Stanik, Gaddafi reportedly employed a cadre of female bodyguards because he believed that an Arab gunman would have difficulty firing at women. However, it has also been submitted by other authors that Gaddafi's female bodyguards were, in reality, just an aspect of the dictator's well-known eccentric showmanship and his fondness of surrounding himself with young women. Gaddafi would usually travel with 15 of his Amazonian Guards assigned to security or housekeeping.
Training
Candidates for the Amazonian Guard participated in firearms and martial arts training at a special academy, were required to take an oath of chastity, then were chosen by Gaddafi.
Incidents
In 1998, one of Gaddafi's female bodyguards was killed and seven others were wounded when Islamic fundamentalists in Libya ambushed Gaddafi's motorcade. It was claimed that the dead guard, Aisha, was Gaddafi's favourite and threw herself across Gaddafi's body to stop the bullets.
In November 2006, as Gaddafi arrived at
Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport
Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport is an international airport serving Abuja, in the Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria, Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria. It is the main airport serving the Nigerian capital city and was named after Nigeri ...
in
Abuja
Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...
,
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
, with a 200-strong troop of heavily armed bodyguards, a diplomatic incident was caused as security officials tried to disarm them. Gaddafi furiously walked away, gesturing that he intended to cover the journey to the capital on foot, and could be persuaded to yield only after intervention by Nigerian president
Olusegun Obasanjo
Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo, , ( ; yo, Olúṣẹ́gun Ọbásanjọ́ ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian political and military leader who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its pres ...
, who coincidentally was also at the airport.
Abuse claims
In the latter days of the
Libyan Civil War
Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. The ...
, accusations emerged from five members of the Amazonian Guard of rape and other abuse by the upper echelons of the Gaddafi government, which included Gaddafi, his sons, and senior officials. Some Amazonian Guards claim they were offered a choice between suicide and executing rebels (Al-Qaeda).
See also
*
Dahomey Amazons
The Dahomey Mino (Fon language, Fon: Agojie, Agoji, Mino, or Minon) were a Fon people, Fon all-female military regiment of the Kingdom of Dahomey (in today's Benin, West Africa) that existed from the 17th century until the late 19th century. The ...
*
Halyna Kolotnytska
*''
The Dictator'', a Sacha Baron Cohen film parodying the Guard
References
{{Muammar Gaddafi
First Libyan Civil War
20th-century women
21st-century women
All-female military units and formations
Bodyguards
Libyan women
Military of Libya
Muammar Gaddafi
Protective security units
Women in warfare post-1945