Muammar Gaddafi

Lore & Background

Muammar Gaddafi was born near Qasr Abu Hadi, a rural area outside the town of Sirte in the deserts of Tripolitania, Italian western Libya. His family came from a small, relatively uninfluential tribe called the Qadhadhfa, who were of Arab Ashraf heritage, from the lineage of Musa al-Kazim. According to later claims, Gaddafi's paternal grandfather, Abdessalam Bouminyar, was killed by the Italian Army during the Italian invasion of 1911. Moving to nearby Sirte to attend elementary school, he progressed through six grades in four years. In October 1961, he led a demonstration protesting against Syria's secession from the United Arab Republic and raised funds to send cables of support to Nasser; twenty students were arrested as a result. Gaddafi and his companions also broke windows in a local hotel that was accused of serving alcohol. To punish Gaddafi, the authorities expelled him and his family from Sabha. He moved to Misrata, attending Misrata Secondary School, and graduated from the Benghazi Military College in 1965. In 1966, he went to the United Kingdom for further military training. He founded a revolutionary group known as the Free Officers movement which deposed the Western-backed Senussi monarchy of Idris I in a 1969 coup. On 1 September, Gaddafi's Free Officers occupied airports, police depots, radio stations, and government offices in Tripoli and Benghazi. Gaddafi took control of the Berka barracks in Benghazi, while Umar Muhayshi occupied Tripoli barracks and Jalloud seized the city's anti-aircraft batteries. Khweldi Hameidi took over the Tripoli radio station and arrested crown prince Sayyid Hasan ar-Rida al-Mahdi as-Sanussi, forcing him to relinquish his claim to the throne. They met no serious resistance and wielded little violence against the monarchists. Addressing the populace by radio, Gaddafi proclaimed an end to the 'reactionary and corrupt' regime, 'the stench of which has sickened and horrified us all.'

Reader's Guide

Gaddafi's significance lies in his four-decade domination of Libyan politics. After the 1969 coup, the 12-member central committee of the Free Officers proclaimed themselves the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), with Gaddafi as chairman, de facto head of state, colonel, and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. He converted Libya into a republic governed by his RCC, ruling by decree. He deported Libya's Italian population and ejected its Western military bases. He strengthened ties to Arab nationalist governments and unsuccessfully advocated pan-Arab political union. An Islamic modernist, he introduced Sharia law and promoted Islamic socialism. He nationalized the oil industry and used the increasing state revenues to bolster the military, fund foreign revolutionaries, and implement social programs emphasizing housebuilding, healthcare and education projects. In 1973, he initiated a 'Popular Revolution' with the formation of Basic People's Congresses, presented as a system of direct democracy, but retained personal control over major decisions. He outlined his Third International Theory that year in The Green Book. In 1977, Gaddafi transformed Libya into a new socialist state called a Jamahiriya ('state of the masses'). He officially adopted a symbolic role in governance but remained head of both the military and the Revolutionary Committees responsible for policing and suppressing dissent. During the 1970s and 1980s, Libya's unsuccessful border conflicts with Egypt and Chad, support for foreign militants and alleged responsibility for bombings of Pan Am Flight 103 and UTA Flight 772 left it increasingly isolated on the world stage. A particularly hostile relationship developed with Israel, the United States and the United Kingdom, resulting in the 1986 U.S. bombing of Libya and United Nations–imposed economic sanctions. From 1999, Gaddafi shunned pan-Arabism, and encouraged pan-Africanism and rapprochement with Western nations; he was Chairperson of the African Union from 2009 to 2010. Amid the 2011 Arab Spring, protests against widespread corruption and unemployment broke out in eastern Libya. The situation descended into civil war, in which NATO intervened militarily on the side of the anti-Gaddafist National Transitional Council (NTC). Gaddafi's government was overthrown; he retreated to Sirte only to be captured, tortured and killed by NTC militants. A highly divisive figure, Gaddafi dominated Libya's politics for four decades and was the subject of a pervasive cult of personality. He was decorated with various awards and praised for his anti-imperialist stance, support for Arab—and then African—unity, as well as for significant development to the country after the discovery of oil reserves. Conversely, many Libyans strongly opposed Gaddafi's social and economic reforms; he was accused of various human rights violations. He was condemned by many as a dictator whose authoritarian administration systematically violated human rights and financed terrorism in the region and abroad.

Did You Know?

• Gaddafi progressed through six grades in elementary school in only four years.
• In October 1961, he led a demonstration against Syria's secession from the United Arab Republic, resulting in his expulsion from Sabha.
• The 1969 coup was initially called the 'White Revolution' due to its bloodless nature, later renamed the 'One September Revolution'.
• Gaddafi's paternal grandfather, Abdessalam Bouminyar, was allegedly killed by the Italian Army during the Italian invasion of 1911.
• Gaddafi served as Chairperson of the African Union from 2009 to 2010.