Libya Uprising: Gadhafi’s Voluptuous Night Nurse Goes Home

Moamar Gaddafi with his Ukranian nurse, Galyna Kolotnytska-Photo: EPA

Moammar Gadhafi’s Ukrainian nurse is heading home, reported Wall Street Journal on Saturday. Galyna Kolotnytska, described in a U.S. diplomatic cable published by Wikileaks as a “voluptuous blond” called her family in the Ukraine to inform them that she has had enough.

The nurse who travels everywhere with Col. Gadhafi will join a long list of associates who have deserted the embattled Libyan leader.

"Mom got in touch yesterday. She said she was now in Tripoli," said her daughter, Tetyana Kolotnytska, to the Ukrainian newspaper, Segodnya. "She spoke in a calm voice, asked us not to worry and said she'd soon be home."

The cable from September 2009 revealed that Col. Gadhafi "relies heavily" on Ms. Kolotnytska, as "she alone 'knows his routine.'" It also suggested that Gadhafi “have a romantic relationship” with four Ukrainian nurses, one of whom is Galyna Kaoltnytska.

Ms. Kolonytska came to Libya nine years ago as a hospital nurse. She later began work as Gadhafi’s personal nurse.

In a related story, President Barack Obama has called on Moammar Gadhafi to step aside immediately. According to the Associated Press, President Obama made the call in a statement released by the White House following Obama’s conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"When a leader's only means of staying in power is to use mass violence against his own people, he has lost the legitimacy to rule and needs to do what is right for his country by leaving now," the White House said.

American allies are considering further sanctions on Libya, including imposing an arms embargo as well as travel ban.

In her own statement, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that Libyans "have made themselves clear."

"Gadhafi has lost the confidence of his people and he should go without further bloodshed and violence. The Libyan people deserve a government that is responsive to their aspirations and that protects their universally recognized human rights," she said.

In new sanctions announced by Clinton on Saturday, the U.S. has revoked visas for senior Libyan officials and their immediate family members. She said applications from such government officials and their families for travel to the United States would be rejected.

The United Nations also imposed similar sanctions on Saturday. The 15-nation Security Council agreed to refer Gadhafi to the International Criminal Court, or ICC, at the Hague for possible trial for crimes against humanity.