When it comes to protecting his body, it seems Libyan leader Colonel Muammaer Gaddafi prefers the fair sex over the hefty male security personnel.

The flamboyant leader arrived in France [Images] on Monday flanked by 30 blue-uniformed females, all supposedly virgins, with guns dangling from their shoulders.

All the female bodyguards wear nail varnish, perfume and lipsticks, and style their hair.

But, they are trained to kill. Not only the bodyguards, even Col Gaddafi is always seen dressed in Bedouin robes.

He has also brought his own tent and camel "to greet visitors in the true desert tradition" during his stay in Paris, the Daily Mail reported on Tuesday. "His country traditions dictate that he travels with his tent and a camel, and arrangements are being made for this," a French foreign ministry spokesman was quoted by the British daily as saying.

The Libyan leader also met French President Nicholas Sarkozy who extended the invitation after Paris' involvement in the release of five Bulgarian nurses and a doctor who were condemned to death in Libya earlier this year.

Since then, the two countries have been strengthening their ties with several billion pound trade deals, including the purchase of Airbus planes, fighter jets and a contract to build a nuclear reactor for civil use in Libya.

Libya ended decades of isolation from the global community four years ago when it gave up its pursuit of nuclear arms and renounced terrorism.

Libyan-French relations further improved when Tripoli accepted responsibility for the 1989 shooting down of a French airliner over Niger and offered compensation to the victims.