Gadhafi wants German PR expert to improve his image

By Daniel Simpson

BERLIN, Sept 1 (Reuters) -- Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, his pariah status softened by his role in freeing foreign hostages held in the Philippines, now wants a German PR expert to polish his international image.

Moritz Hunzinger told Reuters on Friday his Frankfurt public relations company was assembling a team of advisers after an approach from Gadhafi, who has been ostracized since he was suspected of involvement in the bombing of a U.S. airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988 that killed 270 people.

Hunzinger said the Libyan leader, whose envoy has so far negotiated the release of six Westerners from the hands of separatist Moslem rebels on the Philippines island of Jolo, had already scored a major public relations coup on his own.

"It's well-staged," he said of Gadhafi's efforts, which unconfirmed sources say have included paying a $1 million ransom for each hostage. "Though it's more Walt Disney than politics."

But he stressed that any contract to market Libya as a holiday destination, or a campaign to boost the image of Gadhafi and other leaders, would hinge on Western governments' approval.

"We will not do it in the face of objections from our American friends," Hunzinger said, adding that he was also in constant contact with the German government on the issue.

Berlin has thanked Libya for its role in freeing German teacher Werner Wallert, one of 21 people snatched by Abu Sayyaf rebels from the Malaysian island resort of Sipadan in April.

But it pointedly refrained from mentioning Gadhafi directly and from sending a senior official to Tripoli to collect Wallert, whose son is one of six Europeans still in captivity on Jolo.

"We'll only go ahead if it's in the legitimate interest of our government," said Hunzinger, who has mounted similar campaigns for places like Lanzarote in the Canary Islands.

"It's primarily about boosting tourism -- in effect 'They want to be nice'," he said.

In private at least, Western leaders have already started talking to Gadhafi, who is no longer a leading contender for the title of U.S. Public Enemy Number One and had already begun his rehabilitation by handing over two Lockerbie suspects for trial.

But even Hunzinger admitted it might be stretching his PR skills to place a leader most often seen in military fatigues and dark glasses at the center of a promotional campaign, which he said would only be launched if Gadhafi agreed to his plans.

"We know his name, but we have to present the new people, the future of this country and its elite," he said.

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