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Israeli model Orly Weinerman: last-known girlfriend of Saif Al-islam, calls on former British Prime Minister (Tony Blair) to save his life.
The last-known girlfriend of Colonel Gaddafi’s playboy son Saif al-Islam has called on his ‘old friend’ Tony Blair to save his life.
Saif Gaddafi is facing the death penalty in Libya where he is on trial for his role in the killing of protesters during last year’s uprising against his father. Human rights groups are concerned that he will not face a fair trial and efforts to extradite him to the International Criminal Court in the Hague have failed. Now Orly Weinerman, a 41-year-old Israeli model and actress who dated Saif for six years after meeting him in London in 2005, has called on Mr Blair to make Saif’s accusers ‘see reason’. She said: ‘Saif worked closely with Mr Blair before he was captured. 'The two are old friends – it is time that Mr Blair returned some loyalty.
'Mr Blair is a man of God – as a Christian he has a moral duty to help a friend in need.’ Saif’s close links with Mr Blair were illustrated in documents found during the uprising. A letter written by Mr Blair in 2007 gave suggestions to help with Saif’s PhD, which he was taking at the London School of Economics.
Miss Weinerman added: ‘You should just ask Mr Blair what a serious, honourable person he is. The ICC has let him down, and so has the international community. ‘Killing him will achieve absolutely nothing, beyond punishing him for who his father was. Absolutely everything must be done to save him.’
The Israeli actress said her ‘discreet relationship’ with Saif al-Islam - whose name means ‘Sword of Islam’ - began in April 2005 when they were introduced by mutual friends. It was strained from the start because she is Jewish - a fact that caused complications in an Islamic country such as Libya. Her parents - her father is a green energy consultant and her mother a pianist - were also opposed to her converting to Islam, she said, and her relationship with Saif came in for much criticism in the Israeli press. ‘It was something we had to deal with,’ said Miss Weinerman, who is now based in her home city of Tel Aviv.
‘The fact that Saif was prepared to involve himself in a loving relationship with a Jew is a measure of how open and civilised he is. ‘He judged people for what they are - not what people perceive them to be. Saif never made an issue of my religion, or the country I came from.’ She had previously denied having any contact with Saif, after publications including Germany’s Der Spiegel reported their romance in 2006. Saif’s reputation is as a notorious womaniser, and he has been photographed surrounded by gorgeous women.
The last-known girlfriend of Colonel Gaddafi’s playboy son Saif al-Islam has called on his ‘old friend’ Tony Blair to save his life.
Saif Gaddafi is facing the death penalty in Libya where he is on trial for his role in the killing of protesters during last year’s uprising against his father. Human rights groups are concerned that he will not face a fair trial and efforts to extradite him to the International Criminal Court in the Hague have failed. Now Orly Weinerman, a 41-year-old Israeli model and actress who dated Saif for six years after meeting him in London in 2005, has called on Mr Blair to make Saif’s accusers ‘see reason’. She said: ‘Saif worked closely with Mr Blair before he was captured. 'The two are old friends – it is time that Mr Blair returned some loyalty.
'Mr Blair is a man of God – as a Christian he has a moral duty to help a friend in need.’ Saif’s close links with Mr Blair were illustrated in documents found during the uprising. A letter written by Mr Blair in 2007 gave suggestions to help with Saif’s PhD, which he was taking at the London School of Economics.
Miss Weinerman added: ‘You should just ask Mr Blair what a serious, honourable person he is. The ICC has let him down, and so has the international community. ‘Killing him will achieve absolutely nothing, beyond punishing him for who his father was. Absolutely everything must be done to save him.’
The Israeli actress said her ‘discreet relationship’ with Saif al-Islam - whose name means ‘Sword of Islam’ - began in April 2005 when they were introduced by mutual friends. It was strained from the start because she is Jewish - a fact that caused complications in an Islamic country such as Libya. Her parents - her father is a green energy consultant and her mother a pianist - were also opposed to her converting to Islam, she said, and her relationship with Saif came in for much criticism in the Israeli press. ‘It was something we had to deal with,’ said Miss Weinerman, who is now based in her home city of Tel Aviv.
‘The fact that Saif was prepared to involve himself in a loving relationship with a Jew is a measure of how open and civilised he is. ‘He judged people for what they are - not what people perceive them to be. Saif never made an issue of my religion, or the country I came from.’ She had previously denied having any contact with Saif, after publications including Germany’s Der Spiegel reported their romance in 2006. Saif’s reputation is as a notorious womaniser, and he has been photographed surrounded by gorgeous women.
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