Background
Muammar was born on 7 June in 1942.
Muammar was born on 7 June in 1942.
Muammar was a student of the Benghazi Military University Academy.
Gaddafi seized power in a bloodless military coup in 1969 and served as the country's head of state until 1977 when he stepped down from his official executive role as Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council of Libya and claimed subsequently to be merely a symbolic figurehead. He styled himself as "Leader of the Revolution"; in 2008 a meeting of traditional African rulers bestowed on him the title "King of Kings". A leading advocate for a United States of Africa, he served as Chairperson of the African Union (AU) from 2 February 2009 to 31 January 2010.
Gaddafi replaced the Libyan Constitution of 1951 with laws based on the political ideology he had formulated, which he called the Third International Theory and published in The Green Book. After establishing the Jamahiriya system in 1977, he officially stepped down from power and after that time held a largely symbolic role within the country's official governance structure. Rising oil prices and extraction in Libya led to increasing revenues. By exporting as much oil per capita as Saudi Arabia and through various welfare programs, Libya achieved the highest living standards in Africa; Libya remained debt-free.
Critics long described Gaddafi as having been Libya's autocrat or the demagogue, despite the Libyan state's denial of his holding any power. In the 1980s, he acquired chemical weapons, leading to some calling Libya under Gaddafi a pariah state and countries around the world imposing sanctions. Six days after the capture of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in 2003 by the United States, Gaddafi renounced Tripoli's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs and welcomed international inspections to verify that he would follow through on the commitment.
In February 2011, following revolutions in neighbouring Egypt and Tunisia, protests against Gaddafi's rule began. These escalated into an uprising that spread across the country, with the forces opposing Gaddafi establishing a government, based in Benghazi, named the National Transitional Council (NTC). This act led to a civil war, which precipitated military intervention by a North Atlantic Treaty Organization-led coalition to enforce a United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 calling for a no-fly zone and protection of civilians in Libya. The assets of Gaddafi and his family were frozen, and both Interpol and the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants on 27 June for Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam, and his brother-in-law Abdullah Senussi, concerning crimes against humanity. Gaddafi and his forces lost the Battle of Tripoli in August and on 16 September 2011 the NTC took Libya's seat at the United Nations, replacing Gaddafi. He retained control over parts of Libya, most notably the city of Sirte, to which it was presumed that he had fled. Although Gaddafi's forces initially held out in the battle for Sirte against North Atlantic Treaty Organization's bombing attacks and the NTC's advances, Gaddafi was captured alive in Sirte by members of the Libyan National Liberation Army (NLA) after his convoy was attacked by North Atlantic Treaty Organization warplanes as Sirte fell on 20 October 2011. Gaddafi was then killed by NLA fighters. His 41-year leadership prior to the civil war made him the fourth-longest-serving non-royal leader since 1900, as well as the longest-serving Arab leader.
Muammar married to Fatiha al-Nuri in 1969 (divorced in 1970).
He married to Safia el-Brasai in 1970 (divorced in 2011).
He has eight children.
