Libya rebels discover Gaddafi’s Condoleezza Rice photo album

Libyan rebels looting Muammar Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli have discovered an album filled with photos of former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Muammar Gaddafi has a well-known affection for Rice, and the strange photo album features page after page of pictures of her, many of them close-ups, reports MSNBC, which obtained photos of the album.

Rice visited Libya in 2008 during the brief period that saw Gaddafi's international reputation rehabilitated, and Washington restore diplomatic relations with the former enemy state. During her stay in Tripoli, Rice shared a late-night dinner with Gaddafi to break the Ramadan fast, the Washington Post says.

“His [Gaddafi's] face lit up when he saw Rice," the Post wrote at the time.

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Gaddafi raved about Rice in a 2007 interview with Al Jazeera.

"I support my darling black African woman," Gaddafi said. "I admire and am very proud of the way she leans back and gives orders to the Arab leaders … Leezza, Leezza, Leezza. … I love her very much. I admire her and I'm proud of her because she's a black woman of African origin."

Photos from GlobalPost's PlanetPic: Libyan rebels storm Gaddafi compound, fighting not over

The Condi Rice tribute photo album is among the many unusual items that have been found in Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound. 

A Libyan rebel claimed to find Gaddafi's flamboyant military hat in his bedroom at the compound. Other rebels seized Gaddafi's golf cart, which they took for a joyride through Tripoli.

Rice is currently writing a memoir about her years in the Bush Administration. It is not clear whether the book will contain any details about her encounters with Gaddafi.

Rice’s "No Higher Honor: A Memoir of My Years in Washington” is set to be published November 1 by Crown, Politico reports. 

Reporting from GlobalPost in Libya: First brigade of Benghazi rebels arrive in Tripoli