Muammar Gaddafi

1942 – 2011

Muammar Gaddafi was a Libyan revolutionary and dictator who ruled Libya for 42 years, from his 1969 coup against King Idris until his overthrow and killing by rebel forces in October 2011. His government bombed Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in December 1988, killing 270 people; provided long-running material support to the IRA, the Black September Organization, and other armed groups; and conducted a prolonged campaign of disappearances, torture, and execution of Libyan opposition figures at home and abroad. The 1996 Abu Salim prison massacre alone killed an estimated 1,200 political prisoners in a single afternoon.

Last checked: May 10, 2026, 1:06 PM