| Agencyname: | The Revolutionary Nuns |
| Nativenamea: | الراهبات الثوريات |
| Nativenamer: | ar-rāhibāt ath-thawriyyāt |
| Commonname: | the Amazons |
| Formedyear: | Early 1980s |
| Country: | Libya |
| National: | yes |
| Speciality1: | Paramilitary |
| Electeetype: | President |
| Minister1name: | Muammar Gaddafi |
The Amazonian Guard (also the "Amazons") was an unofficial name given by Western journalists to an all-female elite cadre of bodyguards officially known as The Revolutionary Nuns (Arabic: الراهبات الثوريات, ar-rāhibāt ath-thawriyyāt), tasked with protecting the late, former leader of the Libyan Jamahiriya, Muammar Gaddafi.
The group was formed in the early 1980s, after Gaddafi's official resignation as Libyan head of state in favor of the title of "Brotherly Leader and Guide of the First of September Great Revolution of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya".
According to Joseph T. Stanik, Gaddafi reportedly employed a cadre of female bodyguards because he believed that an Arab gunman would have difficulty firing at women.[1] However, it has also been submitted by other authors that Gaddafi's female bodyguards were, in reality, just an aspect of the dictator's well-known eccentric showmanship and his fondness of surrounding himself with young women.[2]
Gaddafi would usually travel with 15 of his Amazonian Guards assigned to security or housekeeping.[3]
Candidates for the Amazonian Guard participated in firearms and martial arts training at a special academy, were required to take an oath of chastity, then were chosen by Gaddafi.[4]
In 1998, one of Gaddafi's female bodyguards was killed and seven others were wounded when Islamic fundamentalists in Libya ambushed Gaddafi's motorcade. It was claimed that the dead guard, Aisha, was Gaddafi's favorite and threw herself across Gaddafi's body to stop the bullets.[5] [6]
In November 2006, as Gaddafi arrived at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, Nigeria, with a 200-strong troop of heavily armed bodyguards, a diplomatic incident was caused as security officials tried to disarm them. Gaddafi furiously walked away, gesturing that he intended to cover the 40km (30miles) journey to the capital on foot, and could be persuaded to yield only after intervention by Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, who coincidentally was also at the airport.[7]
In the latter days of the Libyan Civil War, accusations emerged from five members of the Amazonian Guard of rape and other abuse by the upper echelons of the Gaddafi government, which included Gaddafi, his sons, and senior officials.[8] [9] Some Amazonian Guards claim they were offered a choice between suicide and executing rebels.[10] [11] [12]