One Life.
Muammar Gaddafi
Ruler of Libya for 42 years
19422011
A Friend to Mandela. A Mad Dog to Reagan.
8 sourcesTranscriptRead while listening
The story in brief
Muammar Gaddafi was born in 1942 in a Bedouin tent near Sirte, in Italian-ruled Libya. His hero was Nasser, the army officer who had overthrown Egypt’s king, so he joined the army and secretly gathered rebel officers. In 1969, with Libya’s old king abroad, they seized power in a single night. Gaddafi was 27.
In 1970 he beat the foreign oil companies: Libya kept most of its oil money, and others followed. The money brought better homes, schools and health, and a river piped from under the Sahara. But opposition was banned: students were hanged in public, and exiled critics hunted down. Libya armed militants abroad. In 1988 a bomb downed an airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270. Libya later accepted responsibility. In 1996 security forces at Abu Salim prison shot about 1,200 prisoners in a few hours, by a survivor’s count. Yet Mandela called him a friend: Libya had backed his fight against apartheid.
In 2011 his police arrested the Abu Salim families’ lawyer, sparking a revolution. His forces fired on the crowds. With NATO jets, approved by the UN to protect civilians, the rebels took Tripoli. In his hometown, fighters found him hiding by a drainage pipe. He died in their hands and was buried in a secret desert grave. A decade of war and militias followed.
In his own words
People who have lived without oil for 5,000 years can live without it again for a few years in order to attain their legitimate rights.
The party is the contemporary dictatorship.
I am not a president to step down.
Sources (8)
- US Library of Congress, Libya: A Country Study (1987)
- BBC News, “Muammar Gaddafi: How he ruled Libya” (2011)
- Seymour, OPEC: Instrument of Change (1980), and Hamilton, Oil: The Price of Power (1986)
- Muammar al-Qathafi, The Green Book, Part One (1975), English edition
- Amnesty International Newsletter (May 1977), and Human Rights Watch on Abu Salim (2006), the Benghazi arrests (2011) and Death of a Dictator (2012)
- Al Jazeera, “Libya accepts Lockerbie blame” (16 August 2003) and “Defiant Gaddafi vows to fight on” (22 February 2011)
- Nelson Mandela Foundation, The Presidential Years, section 16.3 on Libya
- D+C, “Libya lapses into Gaddafi nostalgia” (24 January 2023)
Updated October 5, 2026.
Transcript
At 27, Muammar Gaddafi seized power in a single night.
He beat the world's biggest oil companies. His government hanged students in public.
What do you call a man like that?
Born in a tent in the Libyan desert, he was mocked by town boys as a Bedouin.
His hero was Egypt's leader, who had overthrown a king. So he joined the army and secretly gathered rebel officers.
One night, with the old king abroad, they struck.
He told the foreign oil companies: "People who have lived without oil for 5,000 years can live without it again."
They gave in. Libya kept most of its oil money, and others followed.
The money changed almost every Libyan's life: homes, schools, and health among Africa's best.
But no one was allowed to oppose him. Protesting students were hanged in public; critics abroad were hunted down.
The desert boy piped a river from under the Sahara: water older than the pyramids.
He armed militants abroad, and America's president called him a mad dog.
A bomb brought down a passenger jet over Scotland: 270 dead. Libya later accepted responsibility.
At Abu Salim prison, security forces shot about 1,200 prisoners in a few hours, by a survivor's count.
But Nelson Mandela called him a friend: Libya had backed his fight against apartheid.
He pushed Africa to unite. Its kings and chiefs crowned him King of Kings.
As revolts swept his neighbours, his police arrested the lawyer for the Abu Salim families. Their protest became a revolution.
His forces fired on the crowds. He said: "I am not a president to step down."
With NATO jets, approved by the UN to protect civilians, the rebels took his capital.
In his hometown, fighters found him hiding by a drainage pipe. He died in their hands.
He was buried in secret, in a desert grave with no name.
