There are 32 variations of Muammar M. al-Gaddafi's name

To the editor,

For the Lakes Region students and teachers who study or teach history, world geography and social studies, I wanted to share an intriguing observation with you. We are confronted with daily updates on Libya in the Middle East and its current "leader." Depending on the newspaper or TV news channel, Internet site that one reads/watches, one finds different spellings (that have been romanized) for the current leader's name.

I find it humorous that one name can be so confounding, misleading or misinterpreted. There is Muammar, Mu'ammar, Muamar, Momar, Moammar as his first name, and Qadhafi, Qadaffi, Gaddafi, Gadhafi, Gaddhafi, Kadafi, Kadhafi, Kaddafi, Khaddafi, Al-Gathafi, El-Gadhafi as his surname. The White House uses: "Muammar el-Qaddafi". The U.S. State Department references/uses "Mu'ammar Al-Qadhafi." Why?

In Arabic, it is even more complicated. (Arabic symbols) — the equivalent of Mu'ammar al-Qaddafi.

A recent study showed that there are 32 variations of this man's name. I will spare you the rest.

In actuality, his real, accepted, romanized name is "Muammar Muhammad al-Gaddafi" in the English spelling; just in case you are on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" but I will not guarantee that the show knows that...or that you will win!

Jack (Jak, Jac, Jacque) Polidoro

Laconia