Muammar Gaddaffi Biography and How he died
BIOGRAPHY:
Muammar al-Qaddafi was born in the North African desert, south of Sirte 1942 in the town of Surt, in western Libya. Raised in a Bedouin tent in the Libyan desert, he came from a tribal family called the al-Qadhafah.The son of a poor Bedouin nomad, Gaddafi lived in his family's remote desert camp. At the time of his birth, Libya was an Italian colony. In 1951, Libya gained independence under the Western-allied King Idris.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 Abdul Nasser and he became a committed Arab nationalist.
In 1961 he entered the military college in the city of Benghazi. He spent four months recieving military training in the United Kingdom.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. After graduating, Qaddafi steadily rose through the ranks of the military in Benghazi where he found many of the cadets were sympathetic to his anti-Western nationalism.
As disaffection with King Idris grew, Qaddafi became involved with a movement of young officers to overthrow the king. A talented and charismatic man, Qaddafi political opposition movement.
On September 1, 1969, King Idris was overthrown in a carefully planned coup.while he was abroad in Turkey for medical treatment. 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.Colonel Gaddafi, was the autocratic ruler of Libya At age 27, Qaddafi had become the ruler of Libya.
Qaddafi's first order of business was to shut down the American and British military bases in Libya.He also demanded that foreign oil companies in Libya share a bigger portion of revenue with the country.Gaddafi soon began implementing his long-dreamed plans for Libya by nationalizing all foreign banks and oil companies. Qaddafi replaced the Gregorian calendar with the Islamic one, and forbid the sale of alcohol. Feeling threatened by a failed coup attempt by his fellow officers in December 1969, Qaddafi put in laws criminalizing political dissent. In 1970, Gaddafi seized the private assets of Libya's Italian and Jewish residents, driving them from the country.
He vocally opposed Zionism and Israel, and expelled the Jewish community from Libya. Qaddafi's inner circle of trusted people became smaller and smaller, as power was shared by himself and a small group of family and friends.
In these early days, Qaddafi sought to orient Libya away from the West, and towards the Middle East and Africa. He involved the Libyan military in several foreign conflicts, including in Egypt and Sudan, and the bloody civil war in Chad.Since assuming power, Gaddafi has given heavy support to a wide variety of terrorist groups and regimes including: Iran, Iraq, Syria, Uganda, the Palestine Liberation Organization and its sub-groups, as well as the Irish Republican Army. Heavily supported by the Soviet Union, he fought a unsuccessful war against Egypt and a disastrous war against Chad and its ally France for control of the northern regions of Chad, attempting to force the French out of Chad.
In 1974, Qaddafi published the Green Book, an explanation of his political philosophy. The book describes the problems with liberal democracy and capitalism, and promotes Qaddafi's policies as the remedy. Qaddafi claimed that Libya boasted popular committees and shared ownership, but in reality this was far from true. Qaddafi had appointed himself or close family and friends to all positions of power, and their corruption and crackdowns on any kind of civic organizing meant much of the population lived in poverty. Meanwhile, Qaddafi and those close to him were amassing fortunes in oil revenue.
Qaddafi's ruling style was not just repressive, it was eccentric. He had a cadre of female bodyguards, considered himself the king of Africa, erected a tent to stay in when he traveled abroad, and dressed in strange costume-like outfits. His bizzare antics often distracted from his brutality, and earned him the nickname "the mad dog of the Middle East."
In addition to his oppressive rule at home, Qaddafi was despised by much of the international community. His government was implicated in the financing many anti-western groups, including some terror plots. The Black Panthers, Nation of Islam, and the Irish Republican Army all allegedly had links to Qaddafi. Because of Libya's links to Irish terrorism, the United Kingdom cut off diplomatic relations with Libya for more than a decade. In the most famous instance,Gaddafi has provoked several incidents with the USA. Libya was implicated in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing. A plane carrying 270 people blew up near Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people, 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 and to this day he remains in firm control of his government.
After more than four decades in power, Qaddafi's downfall happened in less than a year. In January of 2011, the Tunisian revolution forced out longtime dictator Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and set off the Arab Spring. The next month Egyptian ruler Hosni Mubarak was forced out, providiing a morale boost to protesters in several Arab capitals. Despite the atmosphere of severe repression, demonstrations broke out in Benghazi, and spread throughout the country.
Qaddafi used aggressive force to try to suppress the protests, adn the violence quickly escalated. Police and foreign mercenaries were brought in to shoot at protesters, and helicopters were sent to bombard protesters from the air. As casualties mounted, Libyans grew more determined to see Qaddafi's ouster. As violence spread through the country, Qaddafi made several rambling speeches on state television, claiming the demonstrators were traitors, foreigners, al Qaeda, and drug addicts. He urged his supporters to continue the fight, and small groups of heavily armed loyalists battled against the rebels.
By the end of February, the opposition had gained control over much of the country, and the rebels formed a governing body called the National Transitional Council. The opposition surrounded Tripoli, where Qaddafi still had some support. Most of the international community expressed support for the NTC, and called for the ouster of Qaddafi. At the end of March, a NATO coalition began to provide support for the rebel forces in the form of airstrikes and a no-fly zone. NATO's military intervention over the next six months proved to be decisive. In April, a NATO attack killed one of Qaddafi's sons. When Tripoli fell to rebel forces, it was seen as a major victory for the opposition, and a symbolic end for Qaddafi.
In June, the International Criminal Court issued warrants for the arrest of Qaddafi, his son Seif al-Islam, and his brother-in-law, for crimes against humanity. In July, more than 30 countries recognized the NTC as the legitimate government of Libya. Qaddafi had lost control of Libya, but his whereabouts were still unknown.
Muammar al-Qaddafi was born in the North African desert, south of Sirte 1942 in the town of Surt, in western Libya. Raised in a Bedouin tent in the Libyan desert, he came from a tribal family called the al-Qadhafah.The son of a poor Bedouin nomad, Gaddafi lived in his family's remote desert camp. At the time of his birth, Libya was an Italian colony. In 1951, Libya gained independence under the Western-allied King Idris.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 Abdul Nasser and he became a committed Arab nationalist.
In 1961 he entered the military college in the city of Benghazi. He spent four months recieving military training in the United Kingdom.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. After graduating, Qaddafi steadily rose through the ranks of the military in Benghazi where he found many of the cadets were sympathetic to his anti-Western nationalism.
As disaffection with King Idris grew, Qaddafi became involved with a movement of young officers to overthrow the king. A talented and charismatic man, Qaddafi political opposition movement.
On September 1, 1969, King Idris was overthrown in a carefully planned coup.while he was abroad in Turkey for medical treatment. 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.Colonel Gaddafi, was the autocratic ruler of Libya At age 27, Qaddafi had become the ruler of Libya.
Qaddafi's first order of business was to shut down the American and British military bases in Libya.He also demanded that foreign oil companies in Libya share a bigger portion of revenue with the country.Gaddafi soon began implementing his long-dreamed plans for Libya by nationalizing all foreign banks and oil companies. Qaddafi replaced the Gregorian calendar with the Islamic one, and forbid the sale of alcohol. Feeling threatened by a failed coup attempt by his fellow officers in December 1969, Qaddafi put in laws criminalizing political dissent. In 1970, Gaddafi seized the private assets of Libya's Italian and Jewish residents, driving them from the country.
He vocally opposed Zionism and Israel, and expelled the Jewish community from Libya. Qaddafi's inner circle of trusted people became smaller and smaller, as power was shared by himself and a small group of family and friends.
In these early days, Qaddafi sought to orient Libya away from the West, and towards the Middle East and Africa. He involved the Libyan military in several foreign conflicts, including in Egypt and Sudan, and the bloody civil war in Chad.Since assuming power, Gaddafi has given heavy support to a wide variety of terrorist groups and regimes including: Iran, Iraq, Syria, Uganda, the Palestine Liberation Organization and its sub-groups, as well as the Irish Republican Army. Heavily supported by the Soviet Union, he fought a unsuccessful war against Egypt and a disastrous war against Chad and its ally France for control of the northern regions of Chad, attempting to force the French out of Chad.
In 1974, Qaddafi published the Green Book, an explanation of his political philosophy. The book describes the problems with liberal democracy and capitalism, and promotes Qaddafi's policies as the remedy. Qaddafi claimed that Libya boasted popular committees and shared ownership, but in reality this was far from true. Qaddafi had appointed himself or close family and friends to all positions of power, and their corruption and crackdowns on any kind of civic organizing meant much of the population lived in poverty. Meanwhile, Qaddafi and those close to him were amassing fortunes in oil revenue.
Qaddafi's ruling style was not just repressive, it was eccentric. He had a cadre of female bodyguards, considered himself the king of Africa, erected a tent to stay in when he traveled abroad, and dressed in strange costume-like outfits. His bizzare antics often distracted from his brutality, and earned him the nickname "the mad dog of the Middle East."
In addition to his oppressive rule at home, Qaddafi was despised by much of the international community. His government was implicated in the financing many anti-western groups, including some terror plots. The Black Panthers, Nation of Islam, and the Irish Republican Army all allegedly had links to Qaddafi. Because of Libya's links to Irish terrorism, the United Kingdom cut off diplomatic relations with Libya for more than a decade. In the most famous instance,Gaddafi has provoked several incidents with the USA. Libya was implicated in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing. A plane carrying 270 people blew up near Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people, 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 and to this day he remains in firm control of his government.
After more than four decades in power, Qaddafi's downfall happened in less than a year. In January of 2011, the Tunisian revolution forced out longtime dictator Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and set off the Arab Spring. The next month Egyptian ruler Hosni Mubarak was forced out, providiing a morale boost to protesters in several Arab capitals. Despite the atmosphere of severe repression, demonstrations broke out in Benghazi, and spread throughout the country.
Qaddafi used aggressive force to try to suppress the protests, adn the violence quickly escalated. Police and foreign mercenaries were brought in to shoot at protesters, and helicopters were sent to bombard protesters from the air. As casualties mounted, Libyans grew more determined to see Qaddafi's ouster. As violence spread through the country, Qaddafi made several rambling speeches on state television, claiming the demonstrators were traitors, foreigners, al Qaeda, and drug addicts. He urged his supporters to continue the fight, and small groups of heavily armed loyalists battled against the rebels.
By the end of February, the opposition had gained control over much of the country, and the rebels formed a governing body called the National Transitional Council. The opposition surrounded Tripoli, where Qaddafi still had some support. Most of the international community expressed support for the NTC, and called for the ouster of Qaddafi. At the end of March, a NATO coalition began to provide support for the rebel forces in the form of airstrikes and a no-fly zone. NATO's military intervention over the next six months proved to be decisive. In April, a NATO attack killed one of Qaddafi's sons. When Tripoli fell to rebel forces, it was seen as a major victory for the opposition, and a symbolic end for Qaddafi.
In June, the International Criminal Court issued warrants for the arrest of Qaddafi, his son Seif al-Islam, and his brother-in-law, for crimes against humanity. In July, more than 30 countries recognized the NTC as the legitimate government of Libya. Qaddafi had lost control of Libya, but his whereabouts were still unknown.
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