Col. Moammar Gaddafi, Libya’s eccentric and unpredictable leader for more than 40 years, who brought his oil-rich country to international pariah status, tried to restore it as a member in good standing in the global community and was ultimately deposed by a nationwide uprising, died Thursday in Sirte, his home town. His death was confirmed by Libyan Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril.
Col. Gaddafi had been in hiding since late August, when he fled his home in Tripoli as rebel fighters advanced. Fighting continued for two months, as pockets of his supporters put up fierce resistance in a few holdout towns, leading to speculation that he might be holed up in one of them. He was believed to be 69 years old when he died, although his exact birthdate was not known, and at his death, had been one of the world’s longest-serving rulers.
WARNING: graphic video. Al-Jazeera TV showed footage of a man resembling Moammar Gaddafi lying dead or severely wounded. The video comes as Libyan leaders have informed the U.S. that Gaddafi is dead. (Oct. 20)
Many in the international community had long dismissed him as a clown for his quirky behavior. He traveled, for example, with an all-female praetorian guard and received guests in a Bedouin tent. But his end, like much of his rule, was unforgivably brutal. He was killed as fighters made a final push into Sirte.
Col. Gaddafi’s downfall was part of a transformative revolt in the Middle East and North Africa that pitted thousands of determined citizen demonstrators against aging dictators and despots.
The authoritarian rulers of Libya’s neighbors, Tunisia and Egypt, had been ousted before protesters took to the streets of eastern Libya in February. As demonstrations spread toward the capital of Tripoli, Col. Gaddafi vowed to hunt down his critics “alley by alley, house by house” and ordered his security forces to gun down unarmed demonstrators.
Many members of his diplomatic service and armed forces defected, some joining the opposition government and military in the eastern part of the country. Col. Gaddafi’s crackdown drew condemnation from Western leaders, the U.N. Security Council and the Arab League, which suspended Libya’s membership.
Unlike the Tunisian and Egyptian leaders, however, Col. Gaddafi dug in, vowing to “die as a martyr” in Libya. Calling his opponents “cockroaches,” he accused them of having ties to al-Qaeda and taking hallucinogenic drugs.
Libya’s military had long been kept weak and fragmented, apparently to prevent any possible challenge to his rule. But militias led by his sons — and staffed in many cases by paid mercenaries from outside Libya — seemed initially poised to crush the opposition’s army, largely composed of enthusiastic but untrained civilians.
An international coalition began airstrikes in March and the battle evened out, although Col. Gaddafi’s forces continued to pound rebel-held cities and towns in the west, killing hundreds of civilians.
As NATO strikes intensified and more countries recognized the opposition government, Col. Gaddafi seemed to exist in a fantasy world. His loyalists stage-managed pro-government rallies and denied that his forces were targeting civilians. For weeks it was unclear whether Col. Gaddafi was hiding in his compound in Tripoli, a labyrinth of luxury underground bunkers, even as NATO bombs killed one of his sons, Saif al-Arab, and three grandchildren.
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