Whose "his"?

[Joel S. Berson]

An article on the rebellion in Libya in the NYTimes today says:

"His brother Sa'ad has reportedly used his private battalion to help
him secure business deals."

In context, "his brother" clearly means Qaddafi's brother (the
previous paragraph refers to "militia units controlled by Colonel
Qaddafi's seven sons" and then "his son Khamis's private
battalion"),  I was led by this to read the phrase "help him secure
..." as referring to Qaddafi.  But upon second thought, I'm led
rather to follow the money (the militias and private battalions) to
read "help him secure ..." as referring to brother Sa'ad.

At the very least, a potentially misleading and therefore inferior
wording.  Would "help himself secure" better point back to the
immediately preceding person, rather than the remoter but more dominant male?

Joel

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