| Muammar Al-qaddafi |
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).]] EARLY HISTORY Gaddafi was the youngest child from a Nomad ic Bedouin peasant family in the desert region of Sirte. He was given a traditional religious primary education and attended the Sebha preparatory school in Fezzan from 1956 to 1961 . Gaddafi and a small group of friends that he met in this school went on to form the core leadership of a militant revolutionary group that would eventually seize control of the country. Gaddafi's inspiration was Gamal Abdel Nasser , president of neighboring Egypt , who rose to the presidency by appealing to Arab unity. In 1961 , Gaddafi was expelled from Sebha for his political activism. Gaddafi went on to study Law at the University Of Libya , where he graduated with high grades. He then entered the Military Academy in Benghazi in 1963 , where he and a few of his fellow militants organized a secretive group dedicated to overthrowing the pro-Western Libyan monarchy. After graduating in 1965 , he was sent to Britain for further training, returning in 1966 as a commissioned officer in the Signal Corps. SEIZING POWER On September 1 , 1969 , a small group of military officers led by Gaddafi staged a Coup D'état against King Idris , who was exiled to Egypt. The new regime, headed by the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), abolished the monarchy and proclaimed the new Libyan Arab Republic. Gaddafi emerged as leader of the RCC and eventually as de facto chief of state, a political role he still plays, although he may hold no official position. Gaddafi is referred to in government statements and the official press as the "Brother Leader and Guide of the Revolution." Unlike other military dictators, Gaddafi did not promote himself to the rank of General upon seizing power, but rather accepted a ceremonial promotion from captain to colonel and has remained at this rank for the last thirty-five years. This no doubt appears odd to western militaries, in that a colonel can rule a country and serve as Commander-in-Chief of its military, but in Gaddafi's own words Libya's utopian society is "ruled by the people", so he needs no grandiose title or a supreme military rank. Gaddafi's remaining a colonel, while assuming control over a country, is not a new concept among dictatorships. Gamal Abdel Nasser remained a colonel after seizing power in Egypt while Jerry Rawlings , dictator of Ghana , held no military rank higher than Flight Lieutenant . ISLAMIC SOCIALISM AND PAN-ARABISM Gaddafi based his new regime on a blend of Arab Nationalism , aspects of the Welfare State and what Gaddafi termed "direct, popular Democracy ." He called this system " Islamic Socialism " and while he permitted private control over small companies, the government controlled the larger ones. Welfare, "liberation" and education were emphasized. He also imposed a system of Islamic morals, outlawing alcohol and gambling. To reinforce the ideals of this socialist-Islamic state, Gaddafi outlined his political philosophy in his '' Green Book '', published in 1976. In practice, however, Libya's political system is thought to be somewhat less idealistic and from time to time Gaddafi has responded to domestic and external opposition with violence. His revolutionary committees called for the Assassination of Libyan dissidents living abroad in February 1980 , with Libyan hit squads sent abroad to murder them. President Josip Broz Tito (blue uniform) and Gaddafi (brown uniform) c. 1975.]] With respect to Libya's neighbors, Gaddafi followed Abdul Nasser 's ideas of Pan-Arabism and became a fervent advocate of the unity of all Arab states into one Arab nation. He also supported Pan-Islamism , the notion of a loose union of all Islamic countries and peoples. After Nasser's death on September 28 1970 , Gaddafi attempted to take up the mantle of ideological leader of Arab nationalism. He proclaimed the "Federation of Arab Republics" (Libya, Egypt and Syria ) in 1972 , hoping to create a pan-Arab state, but the three countries disagreed on the specific terms of the merger. In 1974 , he signed an agreement with Tunisia 's Habib Bourguiba on a merger between the two countries, but this also failed to work in practice and ultimately differences between the two countries would deteriorate into strong animosity. Gaddafi also became a strong supporter of the Palestine Liberation Organization , which ultimately harmed Libya's relations with Egypt when in 1979 Egypt pursued a peace agreement with Israel . As Libya's relations with Egypt worsened, Gaddafi sought closer relations with the Soviet Union . Libya became the first country outside the Soviet bloc to receive the supersonic MiG-25 combat fighters, but their relations remained relatively distant. Gaddafi also sought to increase Libyan influence, especially in states with an Islam ic population, by calling for the creation of a Saharan Islamic state and supporting anti-government forces in Sub-Saharan Africa . Notable in his politics has been the support for liberation movements, in most cases Muslim groups. In the 1970s and the 1980s, this support was sometimes so freely given that even the most unsympathetic groups could get Libyan support. Often the groups represented ideologies far away from Gaddafi's own. International opinion was confused by these policies. Throughout the 1970s, his regime was implicated in subversion and terrorist activities in both Arab and non-Arab countries. By the mid-1980s, he was widely regarded in the West as the principal financier of international terrorism. Reportedly, Gaddafi was a major financier of the " Black September Movement" which perpetrated the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, and is accused by the United States of being responsible for direct control of the 1986 Berlin Discotheque Bombing that killed 3 people and wounded more than 200 others, of which a substantial number were U.S. servicemen. He is also said to have paid " Carlos The Jackal " to kidnap and then release a number of the Saudi Arabia n and Iran ian oil ministers. EXTERNAL RELATIONS Tensions between Libya and the West reached a peak during the Ronald Reagan administration, which tried to overthrow Gaddafi. In 1984 a British policewoman, PC Yvonne Fletcher , was shot outside the Libyan Embassy in London , while policing an anti-Gaddafi demonstration. A burst of machine-gun fire from within the building was always suspected of killing her, but the Libyan diplomats asserted their diplomatic immunity and were repatriated. The incident led to the breaking-off of diplomatic relations between the UK and Libya for over a decade. The Reagan administration saw Libya as an unacceptable player on the international stage because of its uncompromising stance on Palestinian independence, its support for revolutionary Iran in its 1980 – 1988 war against Saddam Hussein 's Iraq (''see'' Iran-Iraq War ), and its backing for "liberation movements" in the developing world. In March 1982 the U.S. declared a ban on the import of Libyan Oil and the export to Libya of US oil industry technology; Europe did not follow suit. The U.S. attacked Libyan patrol boats from January to March 1986 during clashes over access to the Gulf Of Sidra , which Libya claimed as Territorial Waters . Later, on April 15 , 1986 , Reagan ordered major bombing raids, dubbed Operation El Dorado Canyon , against Tripoli and Benghazi that killed 60 people following U.S. accusations of Libyan involvement in a bomb explosion in West Berlin's La Belle Discotheque , a nightclub frequented by U.S. servicemen on April 5 . Among the fatalities of the April 15 retaliatory attack by the U.S. was the adopted daughter of the Libyan leader. Libya's involvement with and support for terrorism were confirmed in late 1987 when a merchant vessel, the ''MV Eksund'', was intercepted by the Irish Navy. Destined for the IRA , a large consignment of arms and explosives supplied by Libya was recovered from the ''Eksund''. British intelligence believed this was not the first and that previous Libyan arms shipments had got through to the IRA. in the Netherlands.]] For most of the 1990s, Libya endured Economic Sanctions and diplomatic isolation as a result of Gaddafi's refusal to allow the Extradition to the United States or Britain of two Libyans accused of planting a bomb on Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie , Scotland . Through the intercession of South Africa n President Nelson Mandela – who made a high-profile visit to Gaddafi in 1997 – and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan , Gaddafi agreed in 1999 to a compromise that involved handing over the defendants to the Netherlands for trial under Scottish Law . U.N. sanctions were thereupon suspended, but U.S. sanctions against Libya remained in force. A NEW GADDAFI? From the mid-1990s, Gaddafi managed to improve his connections among Middle Eastern Nations and is today considered by some a more moderate and responsible leader in the Arab world than previously. Regarding the Palestinians , he has begun pushing the concept of a binational single-state solution – " Isratine " – a combination of the words Israel and Palestine . Simultaneously, Gaddafi has also emerged as a popular African leader. As one of the continent's longest-serving, post-colonial heads of state, the Libyan dictator enjoys a reputation among many Africans as an experienced and wise statesman who has been at the forefront of many struggles over the years. Gaddafi has earned the praise of Nelson Mandela and others, and is always a prominent figure in various pan-African organizations, such as the Organization Of African Unity . He is also seen by many Africans as a humanitarian, pouring large amounts of money into sub-Saharan states. Large numbers of Africans have come to Libya to take advantage of the availability of jobs there. In addition, many economic migrants – primarily from Somalia and Ghana – use Libya as a staging-post to reach Italy and other Europe an countries. Gaddafi also appeared to be attempting to improve his image in the West. Two years prior to the terrorist attacks of September 11 , 2001 , Libya pledged its commitment to fighting Al-Qaida and offered to open up its weapons program to international inspection. The Clinton administration failed to pursue the offer at the time since Libya's weapons program was not then regarded as a threat. In any case, the matter of handing over the Lockerbie bombing suspects needed to be resolved first. Following the attacks of September 11 , Gaddafi made one of the first, and firmest, denunciations of the Al-Qaida bombers by any Muslim leader. Gaddafi also appeared on ABC for an open interview with George Stephanopoulos , a move that would have seemed unthinkable less than a decade ago. There are many explanations for the change of Gaddafi's politics. The most obvious is that the once very rich Libya became much less wealthy as oil prices dropped significantly during the 1990's. Since then, Gaddafi has tended to need other countries more than before and hasn't been able to dole out generous foreign aid as he once did. In this environment, the increasingly stringent sanctions placed by the UN and US on Libya made it more and more isolated politically and economically. Another possibility is that strong Western reactions have forced Gaddafi into changing his politics. It is also possible that , the various armed revolutionary organizations he supported did not achieve their goals, and the demise of the Soviet Union left Gaddafi's main symbolic target, the United States , stronger than ever. |
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