PROFILE: With his penchant for Bedouin tents, heavily armed female bodyguards and Ukrainian nurses, Muammar Gaddafi has cut a showman-like figure as Libya's leader for more than 40 years

Record ID: 836796

  • Title: PROFILE: With his penchant for Bedouin tents, heavily armed female bodyguards and Ukrainian nurses, Muammar Gaddafi has cut a showman-like figure as Libya's leader for more than 40 years
  • Date: 22nd August 2011
  • Summary: MISRATA, LIBYA (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (FILE - AUGUST 28, 1986) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF GADDAFI STANDING IN BACK OF VEHICLE SHAKING HANDS WITH SUPPORTERS YOUTH ON HORSEBACK CARRYING PICTURE OF GADDAFI GADDAFI GIVING CLENCHED FIST SALUTE AS CROWD CHANT
  • Embargoed: 6th September 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Netherlands, Germany, United Arab Emirates, Libya, Jordan
  • City:
  • Country: Netherlands
  • Topics: Politics,People
  • Reuters ID: LVA8V7U094OU64URM0H803VD3OXS
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: The Arab world's longest serving leader Muammar Gaddafi has maintained tight control in Libya by clamping down on dissidents for decades, but now, after weeks of unrest, followed by a United Nations resolution authorising a no-fly zone over the country, the veteran leader is feeling the pressure.
    Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was born in 1942 in the coastal area of Sirte to nomadic parents. He went to school at Sebha, then to Benghazi University to study geography, but dropped out to join the army.
    Gaddafi first entered the world stage in September 1969 when he led junior army officers in toppling King Idris in a bloodless military coup. The ageing king had ruled the former Italian colony since independence was gained in 1951.
    Gaddafi oversaw the rapid development of his poverty-stricken country, formulating his "Third Universal Theory," a middle road between communism and capitalism.
    One of his first tasks was to build up the armed forces, but he also spent billions of dollars of oil income on improving living standards, making him popular with the poor.
    Inspired by Arab nationalist sentiments, Gaddafi abandoned ties with Western powers and pursued the aim of uniting Arab countries. He instigated the Arab Federation with Syria and Egypt in April 1971 which soon broke down in argument and recrimination. He played a prominent role in organising Arab opposition to the 1978 Camp David peace agreement between Egypt and Israel.
    Gaddafi's relations with the West, and in particular the United States, became increasingly strained during the early 1980s. He denied involvement in bankrolling hijacks, assassinations and revolutions while insisting on his right to support national liberation movements.
    Accusations that Gaddafi sent agents to blow up a Berlin club frequented by United States marines in 1986 led to U.S. air raids on Tripoli and Benghazi just days later. Gaddafi's home in the Aziziya barracks was hit and his adopted daughter killed.
    Gaddafi designed a political system of local congresses where people were allowed to air their views and appoint representatives to the General People's Congress. In theory the People's Congresses hold legislative and executive power but critics dismiss them as dedicated to maintaining power and wealth in the hands of Gaddafi and his entourage.
    Gaddafi has poured money into giant projects such as the Great Man-Made River, a scheme to pipe water from desert wells to coastal communities. The project, which Gaddafi has described as the eighth wonder of the world, is estimated to have cost 20 billion U.S. dollars.
    When Pan Am Flight 103 blew up over the Scottish village of Lockerbie in December 1988, killing two hundred and seventy people, Western intelligence agencies were quick to point the finger of blame at the Gaddafi regime.
    United Nations Security Council sanctions, imposed in 1992 and strengthened in 1993, crippled Libya's economy but did not appear to dampen Gaddafi's revolutionary spirit and his anti-capitalist, anti-Western rhetoric.
    Former South African President Nelson Mandela played a key role in persuading Gaddafi to surrender two Libyan nationals suspected of involvement in the bombing.
    Abdel Basset al-Megrahi and Al-Amin Khalifa Fahima stood trial in a specially convened Scottish court at a former United States base in the Netherlands.
    Al-Megrahi was found guilty of mass murder and given a 27 year prison sentence, Fahima was acquitted and set free. Libya subsequently agreed to accept civil responsibility for both the Lockerbie bombing and the bombing of a French UTA airliner over Niger in 1989, and to pay compensation to relatives of the victims.
    Visionary or dictator, Gaddafi's quirky style is unique. He lives in a run-down army barracks in Tripoli or camps Bedouin-style, often taking his tent with him on trips abroad. He once pitched it inside Cairo's presidential compound. Ignoring the traditions of his conservative society, he surrounds himself with women bodyguards toting assault rifles.
    Regarded as a maverick in the Arab world, Gaddafi has frequently criticised Arab leaders and institutions. A row erupted at an Arab League summit in March 2003 when Gaddafi criticised Saudi Arabia for hosting thousands of U.S. troops since the 1991 Gulf War. Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah angrily interrupted Gaddafi saying: "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is not a slave to imperialism like you or others. Who brought you to power?" before walking out of the meeting.
    Gaddafi has often disconcerted both friends and foes with swings in foreign policy. He caught the world by surprise in December 2003 when Tripoli announced it would abandon its weapons of mass destruction programmes and agreed to short-notice checks of its nuclear sites by U.N. nuclear inspectors.
    The announcement drew swift praise from London and Washington and an end to international isolation. British Prime Minister Tony Blair visited Gaddafi in Tripoli in March 2004 and over the next two years the United States ended a broad trade embargo, removed Libya from a list of state sponsors of terrorism and resumed full diplomatic relations.
    In April 2009 Gaddafi's fourth eldest son Mutassim made an official visit to the U.S. State Department as Libya's National Security Adviser and was met by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Mutassim has been seen as a possible successor to Gaddafi who has avoided designating an heir.
    In June 2009 Gaddafi made his first trip to Italy, Libya's former colonial ruler. Wearing a picture of hanged resistance hero Omar Al-Mukhtar pinned to his military uniform, Gaddafi was welcomed by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and given a red carpet reception. He returned to Italy the following month to attend a G8 Summit in his role as African Union chairman and met U.S. President Barack Obama.
    The return to Libya of convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, who was released from jail in Scotland on health grounds in August 2009, was welcomed with celebrations. Gaddafi's second eldest son, Saif al-Islam, accompanied al-Megrahi back to Libya and state television showed coverage of the Libyan leader greeting the former intelligence agent later that evening.
    In September 2009 Gaddafi marked the 40th anniversary of his leadership with six days of festivities designed to show that the long-isolated oil exporter was open again for business after years of heavy sanctions. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was guest of honour at a military parade held to kick off the celebrations.
    Later that month, in his first visit to the U.S. since taking power, Gaddafi addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York. In his speech, Gaddafi accused major powers on the U.N.'s Security Council of betraying the principles of the U.N. charter and condemned the veto power held by the five permanent members of the Council.
    "The Security Council is security feudalism, political feudalism for those who have permanent seats. They use it against us. It should not be called the Security Council it should be called the Terror Council," he said.
    Gaddafi's long rambling speech clocked in at one hour and 35 minutes and touched on topics as varied on vaccinations for children to the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.
    The advent of the "Arab Spring" which saw autocratic rulers toppled in neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt in early 2011 encouraged a popular revolt against Gaddafi's four decades in power.
    Gaddafi's violent crackdown on dissent sparked a civil war, prompting the Arab League to call for a United Nations no-fly zone over Libya. On March 17th the U.N. Security Council voted to authorize a no-fly zone and "all necessary measures" to protect civilians against Gaddafi's forces. Two days later a five-country coalition made up of the United States, France, Britain, Canada and Italy, launched air strikes on Libya in a joint operation called "Odyssey Dawn".
    In spite of the revolt, western air strikes and the defection of some of his closest aides, Gaddafi has remained defiant and appears to be hunkering down for a long siege. The Libyan leader has not been seen in public since an air strike hit a house in his compound in Tripoli on May 1st, killing his youngest son, Saif al-Arab, and three grandchildren.

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