Muammar Gaddafi

Brotherly Leader Muammar Gaddafi
معمر القذافي
Gaddafi in 1970
Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution
In office 2 March 1979 – 20 October 2011[a]
Prime Minister	See list Abdul Ati al-Obeidi Jadallah Azzuz at-Talhi Muhammad az-Zaruq Rajab Jadallah Azzuz at-Talhi Abuzed Omar Dorda Abdul Majid al-Qa′ud Muhammad Ahmad al-Mangoush Imbarek Shamekh Shukri Ghanem Baghdadi Mahmudi
Preceded by	Himself (as Chairman of the RCC)
Succeeded by	Mustafa Abdul Jalil (as Chairman of the NTC)
Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council of Libya
In office 1 September 1969 – 2 March 1977
Prime Minister	See list Mahmud Suleiman Maghribi Abdessalam Jalloud
Preceded by	Idris I (as King of Libya)
Succeeded by	Himself (as Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution)
Secretary General of the General People's Congress
In office 2 March 1977 – 2 March 1979
Prime Minister	Abdul Ati al-Obeidi
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Abdul Ati al-Obeidi
Head of Government of Libya
As Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council
In office 16 January 1970 – 16 July 1972
Preceded by	Mahmud Suleiman Maghribi
Succeeded by	Abdessalam Jalloud
7th Chairperson of the African Union
In office 2 February 2009 – 31 January 2010
Preceded by	Jakaya Kikwete
Succeeded by	Bingu wa Mutharika
Personal details
Born	Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi c. 1942 Qasr Abu Hadi, Italian Libya
Died	20 October 2011(2011-10-20) (aged 68–69) Sirte, Libya
Manner of death	Assassination
Resting place	In an unknown location in the Libyan Desert
Political party	Arab Socialist Union (1971–1977) Independent (1977–2011)
Spouses	Fathia Nuri ​ ​ (m. 1969; div. 1970)​ Safia Farkash ​ (m. 1970)​
Children	10 Sons (8) Muhammad Saif al-Islam Al-Saadi Mutassim (deceased) Hannibal Saif al-Arab (deceased) Khamis (deceased)(disputed) Milad (adopted) Daughters (2) Ayesha Hana (adopted)
Residence	Bab al-Azizia
Alma mater	University of Libya Royal Military Academy, Benghazi
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Kingdom of Libya (1961–1969) Libyan Arab Republic (1969–1977) Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (1977–2011)
Branch/service	Libyan Army
Years of service	1961–2011
Rank	Colonel
Commands	Libyan Armed Forces
Battles/wars	Yom Kippur War Egyptian–Libyan War Chadian–Libyan War Toyota War Uganda–Tanzania War First Liberian Civil War First Libyan Civil War 2011 military intervention in Libya

This article is part of a series about Muammar Gaddafi
Personal Early life and career Arab nationalism Nasserism Third International Theory The Green Book Escape to Hell Killing International reactions Reception and legacy Loyalism Affiliations Free Officers Arab Socialist Union Revolutionary Command Council General People's Committee Libya under Muammar Gaddafi Politics Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution Secretary General of the General People's Congress Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council Prime Minister of Libya Chairperson of the African Union Military (Armed Forces) 1969 Libyan revolution Yom Kippur War Lebanese Civil War Egyptian–Libyan War Chadian–Libyan War Action in the Gulf of Sidra in 1986 1986 United States bombing of Libya Toyota War First Libyan Civil War NATO invasion of Libya Leadership (History) Libyan Arab Republic Federation of Arab Republics Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 1970 expulsion of Italians from Libya 1973 oil crisis Cultural Revolution Weapons of mass destruction West Berlin discotheque bombing Lockerbie bombing UTA Flight 772 Support for rebel and paramilitary groups Elections and referendums 1971 Libyan Federation of Arab Republics referendum
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Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi^{[pron 1]} (c. 1942 – 20 October 2011) was a Libyan revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until his assassination by rebel forces in 2011. He came to power through a military coup, first becoming Revolutionary Chairman of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the 'Brotherly Leader' of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011. Initially ideologically committed to Arab nationalism and Nasserism, Gaddafi later ruled according to his own Third International Theory.

Born near Sirte, Italian Libya, to a poor Bedouin Arab family, Gaddafi became an Arab nationalist while at school in Sabha, later enrolling in the Royal Military Academy, Benghazi. Within the military, he founded a revolutionary group known as the Free Officers movement which deposed the Western-backed Senussi monarchy of Idris in a 1969 coup. After taking power, Gaddafi converted Libya into a republic governed by his Revolutionary Command Council. Ruling by decree, he deported Libya's Italian population and ejected its Western military bases. He strengthened ties to Arab nationalist governments—particularly Gamal Abdel Nasser's Egypt—and unsuccessfully advocated pan-Arab political union. An Islamic modernist, he introduced sharia as the basis for the legal system 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 following 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 global terrorism in the region and abroad.

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