U.S. redacted allegation that Gadhafi’s son Saadi is bisexual

Moammar Gadhafi's soccer-playing son Saadi Gadhafi fled to Niger last week. The whereabouts of his father and his brother Saif al-Islam--both wanted by the International Criminal Court--remain a mystery.

Now, comparisons of redacted and unredacted U.S. diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks reveal the State Department thought it appropriate to redact the allegation that Saadi is bisexual, Gawker noted Friday.

The March 2009 cable, written by Gene Cretz, the American ambassador to Libya, describes Saadi Gadhafi's project to try to transform the western Libyan Berber town of Zuwara into an free-trade zone.

"Although the Zuwara Free Trade Zone is an ambitious and expensive project, Muammar al-Qadhafi likely views it as a relatively small price to pay if it helps occupy the notoriously ill-behaved Saadi and lends a patina of useful engagement to his otherwise less than sterling reputation," Cretz wrote.

"Saadi has a troubled past, including scuffles with police in Europe (especially Italy), abuse of drugs and alcohol, excessive partying, travel abroad in contravention of his father's wishes and profligate affairs with men and women," the cable continues. "His bisexuality is reportedly a point of extreme contention with his father and partly prompted the decision to arrange his marriage to al-Khweildi al-Hmeidi's daughter. Creating the appearance of useful employment for al-Qadhafi's offspring has been an important objective for the regime."

Cretz goes on to describe the regime-sponsored business ventures of the other Gadhafi offspring, among them Hannibal Gadhafi, whom Cretz describes as "another miscreant" whose "recent misbehavior in Geneva is the cause of the current rupture in Swiss-Libyan relations."

The leaks of Cretz's candid observations of the Gadhafi regime caused considerable diplomatic heartburn. In January--two months before the United States joined NATO allies in launching air strikes against the Gadhafi regime--Cretz was recalled from Tripoli back to Washington, following the publication of a leaked September 2009 cable in which he described Gadhafi's "voluptuous" blond Ukrainian nurse.

"Gadhafi relies heavily on his longtime Ukrainian nurse, Galyna ... who has been described as a 'voluptuous blonde,'" Cretz wrote in the cable, entitled "A Glimpse Into Libyan Leader Gadhafi's Eccentricities."

The former Libyan leader "also appears to have an intense dislike or fear of staying on upper floors, reportedly prefers not to fly over water, and seems to enjoy horse racing and flamenco dancing," Cretz wrote.

In February, just a month after Cretz was recalled to Washington, the Ukrainian nurse, Galyna Kolotnytska, 38, abandoned her infamous charge and returned to Ukraine.