A Cambridge, Ont. man is making international headlines for his role in helping to get one of the late Moammar Gadhafi's sons out of Libya during the rebellion.
Gary Peters tells a fascinating story of his alleged work for al-Saadi Gadhafi, the third son of former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, who as one of the former leader's children who fled the country in September at the height of the rebellion.
Peters says "I provide close protection and security for individuals."
Al-Saadi is now in Niger, and he allegedly got there with the assistance of Peters's company Can/Aus Security.
Peters says he needed the assistance because "He's a Gadhafi, I mean whether he's a good or bad guy, he's got the last name Gadhafi."
It is comments like that one that have made Peters the target of Canadian-Libyan organizations, which accuse him of breaking international law.
But Peters says "If you want to investigate, investigate, I mean I'm fine." He adds that the RCMP has been in contact with him.
That contact happened shortly after his return from his last international trip, the one where he helped al-Saadi get across the border between Libya and Niger safely, but says he was attacked as he returned to Libya.
"In that situation we were stopped, we were in a roadblock. We say them coming and we tried to get away and we were blocked the other way. They fired at us, so we lit them up, but we got out…I mean they fired first, what are you going to do?"
Peters claims he was shot in the shoulder during the firefight, and showed CTV News the scars to prove it. He also has photos that document his travels.
He is willing to share those photos, but he also wants people to see the images he captured of bombed Libyan buildings, where he says innocent civilians were killed.
Getting that story out is why he says he's agreed to speak with CTV News.
"The one trip that I was there they were taking water out of air conditioning units to wipe the blood off the gurneys, and the gurneys were in the street because the other hospital got bombed."
Peters says al-Saadi wants the story to get out too. The 39-year-old is a soccer fan who once ran the country's football federation.
But he's also wanted on an Interpol warrant for allegations of using 'force and intimidation' as the head of the Libyan team.
That's not the al-Saadi that Peters knows. He says he first met him when he was in Australia, and the man he knows is not violent and is nothing like his father.
"There's good and bad in everybody, and all you've seen from the Gadhafis is bad. The sons because their last name is Gadhafi, that was their father, so they're painted them with the same brush, it's wrong…Saadi is a businessman, very intelligent, very friendly, hospitable, big heart...he's a nice person."
The Australian-born Peters says he not a mercenary, just a bodyguard, and doesn't believe he's done anything wrong.
He asked to have his face concealed because he doesn't want to be recognized abroad. He says he still "assists" al-Saadi Gadhafi.
