Muammar Gaddafi(1942-2011)
- Producer
Muammar Abu Meniar el-Gaddafi was born in the North African desert,
south of Sirte, Libya, in 1942 (the exact date is unknown; some sources
day June 1, while others say sometime in September). The son of a poor
Bedouin nomad, Gaddafi lived in his family's remote desert camp until
he went away to school at age 9.
While a student at a secondary school at Sebha, Gaddafi was inspired by
the speeches of Egyptian President
Gamal Abdel Nasser and became a
committed Arab nationalist. Gaddafi organized his fellow students into
revolutionary study groups at Sebha; he continued the practice at the
University of Libya in Tripoli, where he received a history degree in
1963. Following his graduation, Gaddafi entered the Libyan Military
Academy in Benghazi, where he found many of the cadets were sympathetic
to his anti-Western nationalism.
Commissioned into the Libyan army in 1965, he began laying groundwork
for an overthrow of the Libyan monarch, King Idris, whom he considered
a pawn of the Western European nations. Within four years Gaddafi took
control of the army and on September 1, 1969, he seized power in a
carefully planned coup. Assuming command of the government as chairman
of the ruling Revolutionary Council, Gaddafi declared himself
commander-in-chief of Libya's armed forces and its government, with the
rank of colonel. Gaddafi soon began implementing his long-dreamed plans
for Libya by nationalizing all foreign banks and oil companies and
insisting on closing down all European military bases in Libya. In 1970
Gaddafi seized the private assets of Libya's Italian and Jewish
residents, driving them from the country.
Since assuming power, Gaddafi has given strong support to a wide
variety of terrorist groups and regimes, including Iran, Iraq, Syria,
Uganda, the Palestine Liberation Organization and its sub-groups, and
the Irish Republican Army. Heavily supported by the Soviet Union, he
fought an unsuccessful war against Egypt and a disastrous war against
Chad and its ally France for control of the northern regions of the
country. In an attempt to drive French forces out of the country
Gaddafi sent an invasion force into Chad, only to see it annihilated by
the poorly armed, minimally trained but highly motivated Chadian army.
The survivors fled back to Libya, leaving behind large numbers of
vehicles, equipment and weapons.
Gaddafi has provoked several incidents with the US, one of which led to
an American retaliatory bombing raid on his headquarters in Tripoli on
April 15, 1986. Gaddafi escaped with only minor injuries but his infant
daughter was killed. In 1988 Libyan intelligence agents exploded a bomb
on Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing over 200 people.
After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the US, Gaddafi
worked to improve his relationship with the West. In exchange for his
help in tracking down Islamic militants his government received
concessions from the West, including the easing of various restrictions
placed against it due to his terrorism of the 1980s.
In 2011, as part of the "Arab Spring", major civil unrest broke out in
Libya aimed at removing Gaddafi from power. Gaddafi began a violent and
repressive campaign against his own people and a civil war ensued, with
Gaddafi forces on one side and rebels--a combination of students,
ordinary people and army defectors-with air and logistical support from
NATO, on the other. After an eight-month civil war, Gaddafi was
captured by rebels in his hometown of Serte and soon afterward he was
executed.
south of Sirte, Libya, in 1942 (the exact date is unknown; some sources
day June 1, while others say sometime in September). The son of a poor
Bedouin nomad, Gaddafi lived in his family's remote desert camp until
he went away to school at age 9.
While a student at a secondary school at Sebha, Gaddafi was inspired by
the speeches of Egyptian President
Gamal Abdel Nasser and became a
committed Arab nationalist. Gaddafi organized his fellow students into
revolutionary study groups at Sebha; he continued the practice at the
University of Libya in Tripoli, where he received a history degree in
1963. Following his graduation, Gaddafi entered the Libyan Military
Academy in Benghazi, where he found many of the cadets were sympathetic
to his anti-Western nationalism.
Commissioned into the Libyan army in 1965, he began laying groundwork
for an overthrow of the Libyan monarch, King Idris, whom he considered
a pawn of the Western European nations. Within four years Gaddafi took
control of the army and on September 1, 1969, he seized power in a
carefully planned coup. Assuming command of the government as chairman
of the ruling Revolutionary Council, Gaddafi declared himself
commander-in-chief of Libya's armed forces and its government, with the
rank of colonel. Gaddafi soon began implementing his long-dreamed plans
for Libya by nationalizing all foreign banks and oil companies and
insisting on closing down all European military bases in Libya. In 1970
Gaddafi seized the private assets of Libya's Italian and Jewish
residents, driving them from the country.
Since assuming power, Gaddafi has given strong support to a wide
variety of terrorist groups and regimes, including Iran, Iraq, Syria,
Uganda, the Palestine Liberation Organization and its sub-groups, and
the Irish Republican Army. Heavily supported by the Soviet Union, he
fought an unsuccessful war against Egypt and a disastrous war against
Chad and its ally France for control of the northern regions of the
country. In an attempt to drive French forces out of the country
Gaddafi sent an invasion force into Chad, only to see it annihilated by
the poorly armed, minimally trained but highly motivated Chadian army.
The survivors fled back to Libya, leaving behind large numbers of
vehicles, equipment and weapons.
Gaddafi has provoked several incidents with the US, one of which led to
an American retaliatory bombing raid on his headquarters in Tripoli on
April 15, 1986. Gaddafi escaped with only minor injuries but his infant
daughter was killed. In 1988 Libyan intelligence agents exploded a bomb
on Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing over 200 people.
After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the US, Gaddafi
worked to improve his relationship with the West. In exchange for his
help in tracking down Islamic militants his government received
concessions from the West, including the easing of various restrictions
placed against it due to his terrorism of the 1980s.
In 2011, as part of the "Arab Spring", major civil unrest broke out in
Libya aimed at removing Gaddafi from power. Gaddafi began a violent and
repressive campaign against his own people and a civil war ensued, with
Gaddafi forces on one side and rebels--a combination of students,
ordinary people and army defectors-with air and logistical support from
NATO, on the other. After an eight-month civil war, Gaddafi was
captured by rebels in his hometown of Serte and soon afterward he was
executed.