Baydeh, Libya: A secret bomb-proof bunker under a hillside villa overlooking the Mediterranean here was dug to protect Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
Gulf News was the first newspaper worldwide to be given access to his family's top secret hideaway that few, if any Libyans even knew it existed.
"This area was forbidden," says Dr. Fadal Ali Mohammad, a professor of Archaeology from Baydeh. "This is the first time in my 62 years living here that I have seen this place. This place is a sprawling hillside compound taken by the Gaddafi family and used by his sons, their mother and her relatives."
It was also used by the colonel as his regular summer retreat, visiting here under intense secrecy and security.
Underground tunnels
The complex includes an indoor swimming pool and has an extensive network of underground tunnels leading to secure, blast proof rooms. There, the dictator and his family could hide from any threats and bombs.
Earlier, Gulf News learnt that books on Judaism, Yoga and Hinduism were found in the villa.
Gulf News found a work-out DVD cover. The rest of its contents had either been burnt or stolen by the liberators.
Outside, young children played in the basketball and football courts — forbidden to be here on penalty of death.
In the kitchen, bags of decaffeinated Earl Grey tea lie among spilled cumin, fennel seeds and paprika walked into the white-tiled floor by its liberators last week.
Gold-coloured taps adorn a spacious bathroom and mahogany-framed shower. The dictator also liked to use a jacuzzi.
200 hectares
The compound covers more than 200 hectares. The surrounding area also contains homes used by family members during the summer.
Gulf News has learned that the villa complex was used regularly by Gaddafi since it was constructed some ten ago.
A German construction company using Turkish labourers built the complex.
From the shower room in the indoor swimming pool annex, a doorway leads down, some 15 metres underground. There, after passing through three metre-thick steel and reinforced-concrete doors, lies a series of rooms.
This is the inner bunker where Gaddafi and his closest family would hide if under air attack.
A large communal room, wired for a wall-to-wall sound system covers one end.
Track lighting would provide a soothing climate for the dictator while he watched Hollywood movies.
Several large bedrooms lie on one side while a kitchen and pantry would look after his needs.
Through another blast-proof door, a diesel generator, vented to the outside, would provide power. Four hot water tanks kept the dictator's jacuzzi at the right temperature.
There was also a metre-high escape tunnel.
This escape tunnel consists of three more metre-square blast-proof hatches, entering into a reinforced-concrete-lined vertical shaft. A steel ladder leads upwards, in two sections, before opening out beside a fence next to the basketball court.
Burned
A nearby large villa, looted and burned, was used by Gaddafi's wife to host her sisters and extended family.
Remnants of a crystal chandelier are trampled into the ground.
Down a small track, with a breathtaking view of the valley and sea, lies a gazebo-style building with washrooms, kitchen and lounge area.
Here, the family would host lavish parties, barbeques serving food and alcohol.
No guests were allowed beyond this area into the secret inner sanctum of the Gaddafis.
Now, it is open to the world.
