Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi[1] (Arabic: مُعَمَّر القَذَّافِي Muʿammar al-Qaḏḏāfī audio (help·info);[variations] 7 June 1942 – 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi /ˈmoʊ.əmɑr ɡəˈdɑːfi/ or Colonel Gaddafi, was the autocratic ruler[2][3] of Libya, from 1969 when he seized power in a military coup, until 2011 when his government was overthrown by a NATO-backed rebel force in a civil war. His 42-year rule prior to the uprising made him the fourth longest-ruling non-royal leader since 1900, as well as the longest-ruling Arab leader.[4] He variously styled himself as 'the Brother Leader', 'Guide of the Revolution', and the 'King of Kings'.[5] After seizing power in 1969, he abolished the Libyan Constitution of 1951 and civil liberties enshrined in it. He imposed laws based on the political ideology[6] he had formulated, called the Third International Theory and publ! ished in The Green Book.[7][8] Gaddafi and his relatives took over much of the economy . Gaddafi started several wars, and acquired chemical weapons.[9] Gaddafi also supplied weapons to the Provisional Irish Republican Army, a listed terrorist organisation in the United Kingdom and other countries. The United Nations called Libya under Gaddafi a pariah state.[10][11] In the 1980s, countries around the world imposed sanctions against Gaddafi.[12] Six days after the capture of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein by United States troops,[13] Gaddafi renounced Tripoli's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs and welcomed international inspections to verify that he would follow through on the commitment.[14] A leading advocate for a United States of Africa, he served as Chairperson of the African Union (AU) from 2 February 2009 to 31 January 2010. During Gaddafi's period of rule many of Libya's human development indicators improved significantly. By 2010, Libya had the! highest GDP per capita,[15] Education Index,[16] and Human De! velopmen t Index[17] in Africa as well as some of the best health indicators in the continent.[18][19][20] In February 2011, following revolutions in neighbouring Egypt and Tunisia, protests against Gaddafi's rule began. These escalated into an uprising that spread across the country, with the forces opposing Gaddafi establishing a government based in Benghazi named the National Transitional Council(NTC). This led to the 2011 Libyan Civil War, which included a NATO-controlled international military intervention to enforce a UN Security Council resolution calling for a no-fly zone in Libya. The assets of Gaddafi and his family were frozen, and both Interpol and the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants on 27 June for Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam, and his brother-in-law Abdullah al-Senussi, concerning crimes against humanity.[1][21][22][23] Gaddafi and his forces lost the Battle of Tripoli in August, and on 16 September 2011 the NTC took Libya's seat at the UN, replacin! g Gaddafi. [24] Gaddafi retained control over parts of Libya, most notably the city of Sirte, to which it was presumed that he had fled. [25] Although Gaddafi's forces initially held out against the NTC's advances, Gaddafi was killed as Sirte fell to the rebel forces on 20 October 2011.[26] Contents 1 Early life and military academy 2 Libyan revolution of 1969 3 Internal affairs 3.1 Elimination of dissent 3.2 Campaign against Berber culture 3.3 Economy 3.4 Purification laws 4 Foreign affairs 4.1 Activities in Sudan and Chad 4.2 War against Egypt 4.3 Maghreb countries 4.4 Palestinians 4.5 Weapons of mass destruction programs 4.6 OPEC 4.7 Alliances with other authoritarian national leaders 4.8 Focus on activities in Africa 4.9 State-sponsored terrorism 4.10 Seeking international acceptance 5 2011 Libyan civil war 5.1 Crimes against humanity arrest warrant 5.2 Loss of international recognition 5.3 Battle of Tripoli 5.4 Capture and death 6 Ideology 7 Assassination attempts 8 Ma! rriages and children 8.1 Flight to Algeria 9 Honorary qualific! ations 1 0 Personal wealth 11 Political and cultural public image 12 Transliteration of his Arabic name 13 See also 14 Notes 15 References 16 External links Early life and military academy Muammar al-Gaddafi was raised in a bedouin tent in the desert near Sirte (Sidra). According to many biographies, his family belongs to a small tribe of Arabs, the Qadhadhfa. They are mostly herders that live in the Hun Oasis. According to Gaddafi, his grandfather, Abdessalam Bouminyar, fought against the Italian occupation of Libya and died as the "first martyr in Khoms, in the first battle of 1911".[27] Gaddafi attended a Muslim elementary school far from home in Sabha, during which time he was profoundly influenced by major events in the Arab world. He was passionate about the success of the Palestinians and was deeply disappointed by their defeat by Israeli forces in 1948. He admired Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and looked to him as a hero during his rise to power in 1952. In 1956 Gadda! fi took part in anti-Israeli protests during the Suez Crisis.[28] In Sabha he was was briefly a member of Scouting.[29] He finished his secondary school studies under a private tutor in Misrata, concentrating on the study of history. Gaddafi entered the Libyan military academy at Benghazi in 1961, and graduated in 1966. Both towards the end of his course and after graduation, Gaddafi pursued further studies in Europe. False rumours have been propagated with regards to this part of his life, for example, the rumour that he attended the United Kingdom's Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.[30] He did in fact receive four months further military training in the United Kingdom, and spent some time in London.[31][32] After this, as a commissioned officer he joined the Signal Corps.[33] Although often referred to as "Colonel Gaddafi", he was in fact only a Lieutenant when he seized power in 1969.[34] He was, nonetheless, a holder of the honorary rank of Major General, conferred upon! him in 1976 by the Arab Socialist Union's National Congress. ! Gaddafi accepted the honorary rank, but stated that he would continue to be known as 'Colonel' and to wear the rank insignia of a Colonel when in uniform.[35] Libyan revolution of 1969 Main article: Libyan coup d'etat (1969) In Libya, as in a number of other Arab countries, admission to a military academy and a career as an army officer only became available to members of the lower economic strata after independence. A military career offered an opportunity for higher education, for upward economic and social mobility, and was for many the only available means of political action. For Gaddafi and many of his fellow officers, who were inspired by Nasser's brand of Arab nationalism, a military career was a revolutionary vocation. As a cadet, Gaddafi associated with the Free Officers Movement. Most of his future colleagues on the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) were fellow members of his graduating class at the military academy. The frustration and shame felt by Libyan officers by ! Israel's massive defeat of the Arab armies on three fronts in 1967 fuelled their determination to contribute to Arab unity by overthrowing the Libyan monarchy. An early conspirator, Gaddafi first started planning the overthrow of the monarchy while a cadet. On 1 September 1969 a small group of junior military officers led by Gaddafi staged a bloodless coup d'état against King Idris of Libya while the king was in Turkey for medical treatment. Idris's nephew, Crown Prince Sayyid Hasan ar-Rida al-Mahdi as-Sanussi, was formally deposed by the revolutionary army officers and put under house arrest; they abolished the monarchy and proclaimed the Libyan Arab Republic.[36] Internal affairs Gaddafi (left) with Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1969 Main article: History of Libya under Muammar Gaddafi On gaining power he immediately ordered the shutdown of American and British military bases, including Wheelus Air Base. He told Western officials that he would expel their comp! anies from Libya's oil fields unless they shared more revenue.! In his warning, he alluded to consultation with Nasser. The oil companies complied with the demand, increasing Libya's share from 50 to 79 percent.[37] In December 1969, Egyptian intelligence thwarted a planned coup against Gaddafi from high-ranking members of his leadership. Many of the dissenters had grown uneasy with his growing relationship to Egypt.[38] In response to the failed coup, Gaddafi criminalized all political dissent and shared power only with his family and closest associates. Gaddafi expelled Italian settlers in Libya in 1970.[39] Despising the Christian calendar, he replaced it as the country's official with an Islamic calendar.[40] He renamed the months of the calendar. August, named for Augustus Caesar, was renamed Hannibal, and July, after Julius Caesar, was renamed Nasser, for Gamal Abdel Nasser. From 1971 to 1977, Gaddafi approved the Arab Socialist Union, modeled on Egypt's Arab Socialist Union (Egypt), to function as a political party in Libya.[41] Gaddafi ! increasingly devoted himself to "contemplative exile" over the next months,[6] caught up in apocalyptic visions of revolutionary pan-Arabism and Islam locked in a mortal struggle with what he termed the encircling, demonic forces of reaction, imperialism, and Zionism. As a result, routine administrative tasks fell to Major Jallud who became prime minister in place of Gaddafi in 1972. Two years later Jallud assumed Gaddafi's remaining administrative and protocol duties to allow Gaddafi to devote his time to revolutionary theorizing. Gaddafi remained the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and the effective head of state. The foreign press speculated about an eclipse of his authority within the RCC, but Gaddafi soon dispelled such theories by imposing measures to restructure Libyan society. Elimination of dissent See also:
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