RABAT, Morocco — Once, he was one of America's most feared bogeymen: a Mideast thug who unleashed terrorist goons on U.S. interests around the world. Now, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is breaking bread with the secretary of state in his kitchen and plying her with gifts.

In the 1980s, Libyan terrorists were staple villains in the movies and on TV. It was hard for many Americans to imagine a greater evil than the strongman blamed for a string of anti-U.S. attacks, most notoriously the 1988 downing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

But after abandoning his pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and renouncing terrorism in 2003, Gadhafi completed a remarkable five-year rehabilitation last week, transforming himself from a mysterious and reviled enemy of the U.S. to a partner of known quantity.

In his home — which President Reagan ordered bombed in 1986 in retaliation for Libya's attack on a German disco — Gadhafi welcomed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday for the traditional evening meal that ends the daylight fast during the holy month of Ramadan.

His famed all-female bodyguards were not in evidence, and there were no last-minute changes in the meeting venue.

Gadhafi did repeatedly call Rice — who is known as "Condi" in most world capitals — "Leezza," her aides said.

Rice told aides that the often erratic "brother-leader" of Libya's 1969 revolution did not put his reputed eccentricities on display and had been professional.