Tyrants' Lobbyist, Flamboyant to the End

Von Kloberg's friends in the diplomatic community did not abandon him, and his success on trade and investment missions helped him rebuild his clientele.

Nor did the Spy article hurt. "You'd be surprised how much business I got as a result," he said.

Some people were untouchable, as far as he was concerned. He said he once turned down work for Somali warlord Mohamed Farah Aideed, who offered $1 million shortly before he was shot to death in 1996. Von Kloberg said there was no potential for "turning around" that country. Among those he wanted to help was Alfredo Stroessner, but he said the long-serving Paraguayan strongman never hired a lobbyist.

Von Kloberg, who "tested" his clients by asking them to pay his first-class airfare along with $5,000 a day, spoke poorly only of one client, the Burmese businessman who "stiffed" him for thousands of dollars in work for the South Asian country.

He had numerous short escapes, flying out of Liberia shortly before a rebel advance and enduring a missile blast at his hotel in Baghdad (a Scud that he said Hussein launched for propaganda purposes).

Von Kloberg was lively and peripatetic, constantly crossing the globe and usually returning calls after midnight. His social calendar was demanding, and he had a rule in case a party was a flop: "As soon as you can, learn all the back exits."

His final years were painful medically. He had cancer, diabetes and the inner-ear condition known as Meniere's disease, which caused a ceaseless ringing sensation. In 2002, he retired after suffering a heart attack during a flight from the Ivory Coast to Paris. He had with him five trunks of luggage, which he claimed before going to the hospital.

Never one to go anywhere unprepared, he phoned The Washington Post months before his death to arrange an interview that he hoped would lead to a better understanding of his life. He said there had been greater challenges and rewards in his career than had he crusaded for a "good" cause.

Survivors include his companion, Darius Monkevicius of Rome; and a sister, Carol van Kloberg of Saratoga Springs, N.Y.