Mad & Bad

Gaddafi’s recent deranged rambling speech described the insurgents behind the current uprisings as cockroaches and urged citizens of Libya to ‘take the greasy rats out of the streets’.

Ironically, in 2009 the Libyan Ministry for Public Utilities actually awarded a £3m contract to Rentokil to tackle chronic rat infestations in the country's major cities that had left the population prey to a range of pest transmitted diseases.

Presumably Gaddafi eventually realised after Rentokil had invested quite a lot of time and money on the project, that his idea of rat destruction was somewhat less conventional than theirs – an easy mistake I’m sure you would agree bearing in mind the person they were dealing with.

In April 2010 Rentokil announced that it was still owed £5m by the Libyan leader for an outstanding rat extermination contract.