Gaddafi's Coup and His Path to Dictatorship

On September 1st, 1969 Muammar Qaddafi along with a group of officers part of the Free Officers Movement staged a bloodless coup dâ??état against King Idris I of Libya who at that time was in Greece undergoing medical treatment. The coup was staged in the city of Benghazi and was over within two hours. Qaddafi was careful not to promote himself to general after seizing power but rather ceremoniously adopted the promotion to colonel. With the help of the newly created governing body the Revolutionary Command Council, Qaddafi nullified the monarchy and declared the new Libyan Arab Republic a free and sovereign state. Qaddafi was a controversial figure both internationally and domestically. He initially advocated pan- Arab nationalism along with Arab socialism which was polarizing towards the West. However, later Qaddafi began to seek better relations with the West as well as supporting pan- African integration.  In 2011 Qaddafi was ousted from power during the Libyan Civil War and later captured and extra-judicially executed by the anti- Qaddafist National Transitional Council.

 

George M. Lane was Principal Officer to the Libyan Embassy Branch Office in Benghazi. Lane managed to witness Qaddafiâ??s rise to power first hand and unwittingly met Qaddafi himself at the TV station at which his coup dâ??état began. He was interviewed by Richard Nethercut beginning in August 1990. Read other excerpts on Libya.

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