Muammar Gaddafi

Muammar Gaddafi

Colonel Gaddafi, has been the leader of Libya since a military coup on 1 September 1969 where he overthrew King Idris of Libya and established the Libyan Arab Republic. His 42 years in power made him one of the longest-serving rulers in history.

On 17 February 2011, major political protests began in Libya against Gaddafi's government. During the following week, these protests gained significantly in momentum and size despite stiff resistance from the Gaddafi regime. By late February, the country appeared to be rapidly descending into chaos as a 'credible' death toll is reported to now be approaching 1,000.However, according to RT (TV network)—citing sources from the Russian military—"Airstrikes in Libya did not take place".

On Monday, February 21, 2011, Shaykh Yûsuf al-Qaradâwî talked about the 2011 Libyan protests and issued a fatwa calling for the killing of Muammar Gaddafi:. Gaddafi was reported to have imported foreign mercenaries to defend his regime, and large swaths of the country, particularly in Eastern Libya, were reported to have fallen into the hands of anti-Gaddafi elements. According to other sources "It is a myth that the Africans fighting to defend the Jamahiriya and Muammar Qaddafi are mercenaries being paid a few dollars."

Former top officials, including Gaddafi's former "number two" man, Interior Minister General Abdel Fattah Younes al-Abidi, the former justice minister Mustafa Abdel-Jalil (who became the head of the provisional government in Benghazi), and several key ambassadors and diplomats resigned their posts in protest over Gaddafi's heavy handed response to the demonstrators. General Al-Abidi issued a plea to whatever military personnel may have felt some loyalty towards Gaddafi to "join the people in the intifada." Already, he said, "many members" of the security forces had defected, including those in the capital, Tripoli.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she considered Gaddafi's Tuesday, 22 February 2011 speech as the equivalent of "him declaring war on his own people".

At the beginning of March 2011, Gaddafi returned from a hideout, relying on considerable amounts of Libyan and US cash apparently stored in the capital.In connection with the Libyan uprising, Gadaffi's attempts to favorably influence public opinion in Europe and the United States came under increased scrutiny.

As of March 2011, as part of the 2010–2011 Middle East and North Africa protests, the 2011 Libyan uprising had become a mass uprising against Gaddafi, costing him control of some parts of the country. Gaddafi's former justice minister, Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, has told the Swedish newspaper Expressen that he has evidence that Gaddafi had personally ordered the Lockerbie bombing of 1988.

On 17 March 2011 the United Nations declared a no fly zone in Libya, one of a series of measures intended to protect the civilian population of Libya.