One weekday morning in April 2004, a Libyan girl named Soraya was accorded one of her nations highest honors: Col. Moammar Khadafy was visiting her school, and Soraya alone had been chosen to present him with a by Solid Savings" href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/inside_papa_moammar_hell_harem_pUdogXkFftwdzYgB8mzb9L#" in_rurl="http://i.tracksrv.com/click?v=VVM6MzYwNTY6MzAxOmJvdXF1ZXQ6ZGZhMDQ5ZGY0Yjk0OWFmZDQ4MTQwYjQ4NGU4NmI3Y2I6ei0xNDkwLTI1MzEyMjp3d3cubnlwb3N0LmNvbTo0ODg5MDo0ZWJiODQ3MzQyMDVkNzdmY2EwNTczNjI0MjJiYTZkMg">bouquet.
You cant imagine the excitement, she recalled. To see Khadafy in person . . . His face had been known to me since I was born. Soraya was ushered into a makeshift dressing room, where she changed into traditional garb for the Libyan woman: red pants and tunic, small hat.
My heart was beating a hundred miles a minute, Soraya said. She was 15 years old, a good Muslim girl who had never had a sip of alcohol, a drag from a cigarette or kissed a boy. It all happened very fast. I held out the bouquet, then took his free hand in mine and kissed it as I bowed down . . . I felt like I was on a cloud. Then he patted her head.

In that one moment, Khadafy had indeed marked Soraya as special. And soon she would disappear completely.
What happened to Soraya is recounted in Annick Cojeans staggering new book, Gaddafis Harem: The Story of a Young Woman and the Abuses of by Solid Savings" href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/inside_papa_moammar_hell_harem_pUdogXkFftwdzYgB8mzb9L#" in_rurl="http://i.tracksrv.com/click?v=VVM6MzY3MTU6MzcxOnBvd2VyOjhlOWY1Y2M2NTMyOTZmZDEyOWJhYWFlNmZiN2YxNmJhOnotMTQ5MC0yNTMxMjI6d3d3Lm55cG9zdC5jb206NTQ0Mjg6MDRlNDQxMmYyNTRmYzc2ZTkzMzc5MDU2YzQ4ZTgwNjM">Power in Libya (Grove Press). In the aftermath of the 2011 revolution and killing of Khadafy by a rebel militia, Soraya spent days recounting her ordeal to French journalist Cojean.
I will never forget what it felt like to watch her relive certain crucial moments of her life, Cojean writes, the horror of which hasnt left her.
The day after Sorayas presentation to Khadafy, three members of his famed all-female militia came looking for her. That pat on the head, it turned out, was Khadafys secret sign: I want this one.
His soldiers found her at her mothers beauty salon, a high-end establishment patronized by many of the Khadafy women; the dictators wife, Safia, had previously hired Sorayas mother to do her hair and makeup at the palace. Sorayas father was a member of Libyas foreign information service.
So when Khadafys guards showed up and said the dictator wished to see Soraya for an hour or two, her mother reluctantly agreed. In reality, she had no choice. Soraya was ushered into an SUV and driven at high speeds with two other vehicles tailing to a remote outpost.
When she arrived, Soraya saw another girl one of her classmates but did not feel relief. She was told to enter a large tent, where she found Khadafy himself sitting on a lounge chair, watching TV and absentmindedly flicking through channels. He did not greet or acknowledge Soraya in any way, instead commanding his female guards to get her ready and then walking out.
Briskly, Soraya was measured for clothes, given a blood test, shaved down and given a G-string something so alien to her, she had no idea what to do with it. The guards then gave her a white slip and told her that after she greeted Khadafy or Papa Moammar, as they called him she could go home.
Soraya was escorted to his room by a female guard named Mabrouka, who shoved Soraya inside and quickly closed the door behind her. And there was Papa Moammar, in bed, naked.
Turn around, you whore! he said.
Soraya froze. He grabbed her, yanking her hair to force eye contact.
Dont be afraid, he said. I am your Papa thats what youll call me, isnt it? But I am your brother as well, and soon Ill be your lover. Ill be all of that to you. Because youre going to stay here and be with me forever.
I didnt understand a thing, nothing at all, Soraya said. It was all too perplexing. What was I doing here? What did they want from me?
Though Khadafy had, in fact, just told her Soraya was his captive now, and she would be there to service him whenever he wanted she couldnt quite believe it. To many Libyans, Khadafy was a feminist, his famed Amazonian Guard proof of the respect he held for women, trusting them with his own security. No other Mideast leader would think of such a thing. He was the author of The Green Book, in which he advocated for womens equality. He took great pride in scolding the West on their shortcomings in this area.
Moammar Khadafy is the one who opened opportunities for us to advance, one female member of his vice squad told The Associated Press in 2011. Thats why we cling to him; thats why we love him. He gave us complete freedom as a woman to enter the police force, work as engineers, pilots, judges, lawyers. Anything.
In truth, the Amazonian Guard was a front: Most of those women, too, were Khadafys sex slaves. He shopped for victims at weddings, schools and summits. He kept a secret apartment at the University of Tripoli campus, where he abducted and raped students. He reveled in seducing the wives and girlfriends of heads of state, ambassadors, various dignitaries. He gobbled Viagra and had to have sex at least four times a day, with four different people. It is fair to say the entire Libyan populace existed to sate his depraved sexual appetites.
Then there were the willing those elite foreigners who succumbed. Whether by force or free will is a mystery.
It always surp