“I met the country’s Olympic committee chief Muhammad Qadhafi, who told me groups of special forces from several Western states had been sent to the Libyan capital Tripoli to physically eliminate his father,” Kirsan Ilyumzhinov told the Interfax news agency. - File Photo

MOSCOW: The maverick Russian head of world chess said Monday he had met Muammar Qadhafi’s eldest son in Tripoli, who told him Western special forces were stationed in the capital to kill the Libyan leader.

“I met the country's Olympic committee chief Muhammad Qadhafi, who told me groups of special forces from several Western states had been sent to the Libyan capital Tripoli to physically eliminate his father,” Kirsan Ilyumzhinov told the Interfax news agency.

“According to Muhammad Qadhafi, three groups of Western special forces are in Tripoli. He thinks the West is going all-in,” Ilyumzhinov said.

The eccentric president of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) and former leader of the Buddhist republic of Kalmykia is known for unusual pronouncements, repeatedly claiming in interviews to have met aliens.

Yet he has become an unlikely commentator on Libya, with apparent close access to Qadhafi and his family.

Last month he was shown on Russian television playing a game of chess with Qadhafi on an earlier visit to Tripoli, which he insisted was a working trip on chess business.