In an account from a former London School of Economics classmate that we highlighted back in March, Saif al-Islam Qaddafi came across as a man who had all the trappings of being Muammar Qaddafi's son but rarely drew attention to his family name. Now, as the Qaddafi regime crumbles, another former LSE classmate has published an account that paints a different picture of the architect-cum-Libyan reformer-cum-defiant regime defender and war crimes suspect. At Aslan Media, Rahilla Zafar describes Saif al-Islam as a charismatic but off-putting student with a penchant for Prada suits, a dose of Harvard envy, and a tendency to tear up at the mention of his father. When he gave Zafar his contact information, she says, he emphasized "not just his first name Saif but his last name Qadaffi."

Reflecting on a lavish lobster dinner that Saif threw for his students and professors--an affair the previous account also mentioned--Zafar writes, "I could not help but feel sorry for Saif ... How terrible it must be to love a father who is a murderous lunatic. How sad it is that a person whose passion in life is architecture not political philosophy has the terrible fate of working alongside a father who's a dictator and who has lived most of his life isolated." You can read the full account here.

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Uri Friedman