Moscow:
A Ukrainian nurse, who has treated Muammar Gaddafi, today dismissed reports that the Libyan strongman had a "voluptuous blonde" as a mistress, but said the leader was in good health.
Oksana Balynskaya, one of four Ukrainian nurses who served Gaddafi, said his staff used to call him "Papa" affectionately and that the leader was a good paymaster, presenting them gold watches every year.
Speaking to a Russian tabloid 'Komsomolskaya Pravda', Balynskaya rejected claims that Gaddafi had a special relationship with another Ukrainian nurse, Galyna Kolotnytska, described in leaked US diplomatic cables as a "voluptuous blonde" he could not live without.
Kolotnytska "had exactly the same duties as the other nurses - there are five of us - but was more experienced," Balynskaya said.
"What they are writing about Galyna Kolotnytska is made-up stories," she claimed.
She said that the 68-year-old Libyan leader is full of beans and can "show up anyone."
"Despite his age, Gaddafi can run circles around anybody. He looks after himself and undergoes medical checks every year," Balynskaya said.
Oksana, who spent two years in Libya, returned to Kiev in February on a military aircraft with 185 other evacuees, including Galyna Kolotnytska.
She recounted that on a trip to New York, Gaddafi personally ordered that all the nurses were given cash so that they could "go on a shopping spree." She enjoyed her "special status." "You can only tell somebody who works for Papa by their watch. On September 1 every year, (the anniversary of Gaddafi assuming power), we were given Italian gold watches with his picture on them. People who have been working for him for 6 or 8 years, have already got an entire collection of gold watches," Oksana said.
Oksana felt sorry that she did not get the chance to say good-bye to 'Papa'.