Muammar Gaddafi
Brotherly leader and leader of the revolution
September 1, 1969 - October 20, 2011

Successor: Position abolished
Chairman of the Libyan Revolutionary Command Council
September 8, 1969 – March 2, 1977
Predecessor: Position established
13th Prime Minister of Libya

13th Minister of Defense of Libya
January 16, 1970 - July 16, 1972
1st General Secretary of the General People's Congress of Libya
March 2, 1977 - March 2, 1979
Party: Arab Socialist Union (1972-1977)
Profession: Military
Religion: Islam
Birth: June 7, 1942 (Sirte, Misrata)
Death: October 20, 2011 (Sirte, Misrata)
Rank: Colonel (1969)

Muammar bin Muhammad Abu Menyar Abdel Salam bin Hamid al-Gaddafi(born June 7, 1940 or 1942, Sirte, Misurata, Italian Libya - died October 20, 2011, ibid.) - Libyan statesman and military leader; head (de facto) of the Libyan Jamahiriya (from September 1, 1969 to October 20, 2011), Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council of Libya (1969-1977), Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of Libya (1970-1972), Secretary General of the General People's Congress (1977-1979 ); Colonel (since 1969). After Muammar Gaddafi refused all posts, he began to be called the Fraternal Leader and Leader of the First September Great Revolution of the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya or the Fraternal Leader and Leader of the Revolution.

Having overthrown the monarchy, he later formulated the “Third World Theory”, set out in his three-volume work “The Green Book”, establishing a new form of government in Libya - the Jamahiriya. The Libyan leadership allocated revenues from oil production to social needs, which made it possible by the mid-1970s to implement large-scale programs for the construction of public housing, the development of healthcare and education. On the other hand, Libya during the reign Muammar Gaddafi repeatedly accused of interfering in the affairs of foreign countries. In 1977, there was a border war with Egypt, and in the 1980s the country was drawn into an armed conflict in Chad. As a supporter of pan-Arabism, Muammar Gaddafi made efforts to unite Libya with a number of countries, which ended unsuccessfully. Muammar Gaddafi provided support to numerous national liberation, revolutionary and terrorist organizations around the world. High-profile terrorist attacks with a Libyan imprint led to the bombing of the country in 1986 and the imposition of sanctions in the 1990s.

On June 27, 2011, during the civil war in Libya, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant Muammar Gaddafi on charges of murder, unlawful arrest and detention. Killed on October 20, 2011 after the capture of Sirte by the forces of the Transitional National Council.

The early years of Muammar Gaddafi

Muammar Gaddafi born in 1940 or 1942 in a tent 30 km away south of the city Sirte in a Bedouin family who belonged to the Arabized Berber tribe of al-Qaddafa. His grandfather was killed in 1911 by an Italian colonist. Remembering my childhood, Muammar Gaddafi said: “We Bedouins enjoyed freedom among nature, everything was pristinely clean... There were no barriers between us and the sky.”

At 9 years old Muammar Gaddafi went to primary school. Following his father, who constantly wandered in search of new, more fertile lands, Muammar Gaddafi changed three schools: in Sirte, Sebha and Misrata.
Father Muammar Gaddafi later recalled: “I did not have the money to find a corner for my son in Sirte or entrust him to my friends. Muammar Gaddafi he spent the night in the mosque, came 30 kilometers away on weekends to visit us, spent his holidays in the desert, near a tent.” In his youth, Muammar Gaddafi was an admirer of Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser; participated in anti-Israel protests during the Suez Crisis in 1956. In 1959, an underground organization was created in Sebkha, one of whose activists was Gaddafi.
On October 5, 1961, the organization held a demonstration of protest against Syria's secession from the United Arab Republic, which ended with a speech near the ancient wall of the city by the main organizer of the event - Muammar Gaddafi. A few days later he was expelled from Sebha's boarding school.

As a schoolboy, he participated in an underground political organization and conducted anti-colonial demonstrations against Italy. In 1961 Muammar Gaddafi created an underground organization whose goal was to overthrow the monarchy, as in neighboring Egypt. In October of the same year, a youth demonstration in support of the Algerian revolution began in the city of Sebha. It immediately grew into a mass anti-monarchist uprising. The organizer and leader of the demonstration was Gaddafi. For that Muammar Gaddafi arrested and then expelled from the city. I had to continue my studies in Misrata. There Muammar Gaddafi entered the local lyceum, which he successfully graduated in 1963.

In 1965 Muammar Gaddafi With the rank of lieutenant, he graduated from the military college in Benghazb and began serving in the signal troops in the Gar Younes military camp, then in 1966 he underwent retraining in Great Britain and was then promoted to captain.

Al-Fateh Revolution (1969 military coup in Libya) led by Muammar Gaddafi

In 1964, under the leadership Muammar Gaddafi On the seashore near the village of Tolmeita, the 1st congress of the organization called “Free Unionist Socialist Officers” (OSUSUS) took place, which began underground preparations for a coup. One of Rifi's officers, Ali Sherif, later recalled the behavior of the young conspirators at the military college:
“I only kept in touch personally with Muammar Gaddafi and my platoon commander, Bashir Havvadi. The command was watching our every move. We had to report where we were going, who we were meeting. For example, I have been asked about this hundreds of times. Of course, I did not fulfill these requirements of my superiors, but M. Gaddafi was aware of my activities and found opportunities to direct my illegal work. I was in sight M. Gaddafi due to its popularity among cadets. But he knew how to control himself and behave impeccably, which delighted us. The authorities considered him a “bright head”, an “incorrigible dreamer” and therefore treated him condescendingly and did not seriously suspect anything. M. Gaddafi it was enough to look at a new member of the organization once, and he almost unmistakably determined his capabilities, remembered him, although he did not suspect that he was at the head of the movement Muammar Gaddafi, sociable, thoughtful cadet. In each military camp we had at least two informant officers. We were interested in the armament of the units, lists of officers, their characteristics, and the mood of the personnel.”

In general terms, the plan for the officers' performance was developed already in January 1969, but the three times scheduled dates for Operation El-Quds (Jerusalem) - March 12 and 24, as well as August 13 - were postponed for various reasons. Early in the morning of September 1, detachments of USOSUS members led by captain Gaddafi At the same time, they began performing in Benghazi, Tripoli and other cities of the country. They quickly established control over major government and military installations. All entrances to American bases were blocked in advance. King Idris I was undergoing treatment in Turkey at that time. Gaddafi recalled:
“I may have played a dominant role in our movement, but that was before the X-hour. After that, I was, perhaps, more likely one of the ordinary participants in the coup. On the 31st I ended up in Benghazi, in the Gar Yuney barracks. The start of the performance was scheduled for 2 hours 30 minutes in the morning simultaneously throughout the country, with the exception of the most distant garrisons. All combat groups were tasked with capturing the targets assigned to them no later than 4 hours 30 minutes.

Moghareif and Abdel Fattah were to seize the Benghazi radio station and direct operations from there. I also had to broadcast our first communiqué, prepared in advance, and also take the necessary countermeasures in case possible complications(foreign intervention or attempts to resist domestically).

At the appointed time, taking 2 soldiers with me, I headed to the radio station in a jeep. A “capture group” followed me in cars. On the way, a column of cars crossed our path. I stopped to find out what was going on. It turned out that Kharroubi, having captured the Birka barracks and taken command there into his own hands, decided to head to the police school to neutralize it, since resistance could be organized there. We calmly continued moving. And they weren't late. The radio station was captured at 4 am. From the height of “my” facility, I looked at the city and saw columns of trucks with soldiers coming from the port towards Benghazi. I realized that our plan was being implemented...”

At 7:00 the famous “Communique No. 1” was broadcast, beginning with the words Muammar Gaddafi:
“Citizens of Libya! In response to the deepest aspirations and dreams that filled your hearts. In response to your constant demands for change and spiritual rebirth, your long struggle in the name of these ideals. Heeding your call for rebellion, your loyal army forces took on this task and overthrew a reactionary and corrupt regime, the stench of which sickened and shocked us all.”

Captain Gaddafi further said: “All who witnessed the sacred struggle of our hero Omar al-Mukhtar for Libya, Arabism and Islam! All who fought on the side of Ahmed ash-Sherif in the name of bright ideals... All the sons of the desert and our ancient cities, our green fields and beautiful villages - forward!”

One of the first was the announcement of the creation of the highest body of state power - the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC). The monarchy was overthrown. The country received a new name - the Libyan Arab Republic. On September 8, the SRK decided to assign the 27-year-old captain Muammar Gaddafi rank of colonel and appointed him supreme commander of the country's armed forces. He remained in this rank for the rest of his life (until 1979 he was the only colonel in the country).

Muammar Gaddafi - about the head of state

The Chairman of the SRK became Muammar Gaddafi. The SRK included 11 officers who participated in the coup: Abdel Salam Jelloud, Abu Bakr Yunis Jaber, Awwad Hamza, Bashir Hawwadi, Omar Moheishi, Mustafa al-Kharrubi, Khuweildi al-Hmeidi, Abdel Moneim al-Huni, Muhammad Najm, Muhammad Mogharef and Mukhtar Gervi. October 16, 1969 Muammar Gaddafi, speaking at a mass rally, announced five principles of his policy: 1) complete evacuation of foreign bases from Libyan territory, 2) positive neutrality, 3) national unity, 4) Arab unity, 5) prohibition of political parties.

January 16, 1970 Muammar Gaddafi became prime minister and minister of defense. One of the first events led Gaddafi The new leadership of the country began the evacuation of foreign military bases from Libyan territory. He then said: “Either the foreign bases will disappear from our land, in which case the revolution will continue, or, if the bases remain, the revolution will die. In April, the withdrawal of troops from the British naval base in Tobruk was completed, and in June - from the largest American air force base in the region, Wheelus Field, on the outskirts of Tripoli. On October 7 of the same year, all 20 thousand Italians were expelled from Libya. This day was declared the “day of vengeance.” In addition, the graves of Italian soldiers were dug up as revenge for the brutal colonial war waged by Fascist Italy in the 1920s.

In October 2004, after a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi Muammar Gaddafi promised to change the “day of vengeance” to the “day of friendship”, but this was not done. In 2009, during his historic visit to Italy, Gaddafi met with hundreds of exiled Italians. One of the exiles would later say about this meeting: “ Muammar Gaddafi told us that he was forced to expel us in order to save our lives, because the Libyan people wanted to kill us. But to save us, he also confiscated all our property."

During 1969-1971 Foreign banks and all Italian-owned land property were nationalized. The state also nationalized the property of foreign oil companies; the remaining oil companies were nationalized by 51%.

One of the first steps Gaddafi After coming to power, the calendar was reformed: the names of the months of the year were changed, and chronology began to be based on the year of death of the Prophet Muhammad. In November 1971, the Revolutionary Command Council created a commission to review all Libyan legislation in accordance "with the basic principles of Islamic Sharia." Alcoholic beverages and gambling were prohibited in the country. On April 15, 1973, during his speech in Zouar, Muammar Gaddafi proclaimed a cultural revolution, which included 5 points:
* the annulment of all existing laws adopted by the previous monarchical regime and their replacement with laws based on Sharia;
* repression of communism and conservatism, purging all political oppositionists - those who opposed or resisted the revolution, such as communists, atheists, members of the Muslim Brotherhood, defenders of capitalism and agents of Western propaganda;
* distribution of weapons among people in such a way that public resistance would protect the revolution;
* administrative reform to end excessive bureaucratization, overreach and bribery;
* encouragement of Islamic thought, rejecting any ideas that do not conform to it, especially ideas imported from other countries and cultures.

According to Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan Cultural Revolution, unlike the Chinese Cultural Revolution, did not introduce anything new, but rather marked a return to Arab and Islamic heritage.

The Gaddafi regime in the 1970s-1990s had much in common with other similar post-colonial regimes in Africa and the Middle East. Rich in natural resources, but poor, backward, tribalist Libya, from which the attributes of Western life were expelled in the first years of Gaddafi's rule, was declared a country with a special path of development. The official ideology (see below) was a mixture of extreme ethnic nationalism, rent-seeking planned socialism, state Islam and a left-wing military dictatorship with Gaddafi led by declared collegiality of management and “democracy”. Despite this, and also despite the fact that Gaddafi At different times he supported various radical political movements; within the country, his policies during these years were relatively moderate. The regime was supported by the army, the state apparatus and the rural population, for whom these institutions were virtually the only mechanism for social mobility.

"Jamahiriyya" - Muammar Gaddafi's Third World Theory

Muammar Gaddafi maintained close ties with Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Both leaders stated that they were trying to build a socialist society based on Islam, morality and patriotism. However, the deterioration of relations with Egypt after the death of Nasser and the rapprochement of his successor Sadat with the United States and Israel prompted Gaddafi in the early 70s formulate their own ideology.

A unique concept of social development put forward Muammar Gaddafi, is set out in his main work - the “Green Book”, in which the ideas of Islam are intertwined with the theoretical positions of the Russian anarchists Kropotkin and Bakunin. Jamahiriya (the official name of the political system of Libya) translated from Arabic means “power of the masses.”
Green Book Muammar Gaddafi was published in many languages ​​of the world

On March 2, 1977, at an emergency session of the General People's Congress (GPC) of Libya, held in Sebha, the “Sebha Declaration” was promulgated, proclaiming the establishment of a new form of government - the Jamahiriya (from the Arabic "jamahir" - the masses). The Libyan Republic received its new name - “Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya” (SNLAD).

The Revolutionary Command Council and the government were dissolved. Instead, new institutions were created corresponding to the “Jamahiriyya” system. The General People's Congress was declared the supreme body of the legislative branch, and the Supreme People's Committee formed by it instead of the government - the executive branch. Ministries were replaced by people's secretariats, at the head of which bodies were created collective leadership- the Bureau. Libyan embassies in foreign countries have also been transformed into people's bureaus. There is no head of state in Libya, in accordance with the principle of democracy.

Gaddafi ( general secretary) and four of his closest associates - Major Abdel Salam Ahmed Jelloud, as well as generals Abu Bakr Younis Jaber, Mustafa al-Kharrubi and Khuweildi al-Hmeidi.

Exactly two years later, the five leaders resigned from government positions, ceding them to professional managers. Since then Gaddafi is officially called the Leader of the Libyan Revolution, and all five leaders are called the Revolutionary Leadership. Revolutionary committees appeared in the political structure of Libya, designed to carry out the political line of the revolutionary leadership through the system of people's congresses. Muammar Gaddafi officially he is only the leader of the Libyan revolution, although his real influence on the process of making political, economic and military decisions is actually high.

Muammar Gaddafi advocates a democratic solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict through the creation of a single Arab-Jewish state under the code name “Izratina”.

Egyptian-Libyan War

Main article: Egyptian–Libyan War

In the mid-1970s, the orientation of Libya's foreign policy towards the USSR was already obvious, while Egypt was increasingly inclined to cooperate with Western countries and entered into dialogue with Israel. The policies of Egyptian President Sadat caused a negative reaction from Arab countries, including Libya.

In the spring of 1976, Egypt, and then Tunisia and Sudan, accused Libya of organizing and financing their internal opposition circles. In July of the same year, Egypt and Sudan directly accused Libya of supporting an unsuccessful coup attempt against Sudanese President Nimeiry, and already in August the concentration of Egyptian troops on the Libyan border began. Tensions between the two countries increased in April–May 1977 when demonstrators in both countries seized each other's consulates. In June Muammar Gaddafi ordered 225,000 Egyptians working and living in Libya to leave the country by July 1 or face arrest. On July 20 of the same year, Libyan artillery opened fire for the first time on Egyptian border posts in the area of ​​al-Sallum and Halfaya. The next day, Egyptian troops invaded Libya. During 4 days of fighting, both sides used tanks and aircraft. As a result of the mediation mission of Algeria and the Palestine Liberation Organization, hostilities ceased by July 25.

Muammar Gaddafi's foreign policy

Almost immediately after coming to power Muammar Gaddafi, driven by the idea of ​​pan-Arabism, headed for the unification of Libya with neighboring Arab countries. On December 27, 1969, a meeting took place Gaddafi, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and Sudanese Prime Minister Jafar Nimeiry, which resulted in the signing of the Tripoli Charter, which contained the idea of ​​unifying the three states. On November 8, 1970, the Cairo Declaration was adopted on the creation of the Federation of Arab Republics (FAR) consisting of Egypt, Libya and Sudan. Same year Muammar Gaddafi proposed to Tunisia to unite the two countries, but then-President Habib Bourguiba rejected the proposal.

June 11, 1972 Gaddafi called on Muslims to fight the US and UK, and also announced his support for black revolutionaries in the US, revolutionaries in Ireland and Arabs who wanted to join the struggle for the liberation of Palestine. On August 2, at a meeting in Benghazi, the Libyan leader and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat agreed on a phased unification of the two countries, which was planned for September 1, 1973. Showing more enthusiasm than the Egyptian President, Muammar Gaddaf and in July of the following year he even organized a 40,000-strong march on Cairo in order to put pressure on Egypt, but the march was stopped 200 miles from the Egyptian capital. The union between Libya and Egypt never worked out. Further events only led to a deterioration in Egyptian-Libyan relations and later to an armed conflict. In January 1974, Tunisia and Libya announced the unification and formation of the Islamic Arab Republic, but a referendum on this matter never took place. While on a visit to Algeria in May-June 1978, Gaddafi made a proposal to unite Libya, Algeria and Tunisia.

In August 1978, at the official invitation of the Libyan leadership, the leader of the Lebanese Shiites and the founder of the Amal movement, Imam Musa al-Sadr, arrived in the country, accompanied by two companions, after which they mysteriously disappeared. On August 27, 2008, Lebanon accused Gaddafi in a plot to kidnap and illegally imprison the spiritual leader of the Lebanese Shiites and demanded the arrest of the leader of Libya. As the judicial investigator noted, while committing this crime, Colonel Gaddafi“contributed to the outbreak of the civil war in Lebanon and the armed conflict between faiths.” Libya has always denied allegations of involvement in the disappearance of the three Lebanese and claims that the imam and his companions left Libya in the direction of Italy.

During the Uganda-Tanzania war of 1978-1979. Muammar Gaddafi sent 2,500 Libyan troops to help Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. On December 22, 1979, the United States included Libya on its list of countries that sponsor terrorism. In the early 1980s. The United States accused the Libyan regime of interfering in the internal affairs of at least 45 countries.

On September 1, 1980, after secret negotiations between representatives of Libya and Syria, Colonel Gaddafi invited Damascus to unite so that they could more effectively confront Israel, and on September 10 an agreement was signed to unify Libya and Syria. Libya and Syria were the only Arab countries that supported Iran in the Iran-Iraq War. This led to Saudi Arabia breaking off diplomatic relations with Libya on October 19 of the same year. After the suppression of a coup attempt in Sudan in July 1976, Khartoum broke off diplomatic relations with the Libyan Jamahiriya, which the presidents of Sudan and Egypt accused of organizing a conspiracy to overthrow Nimeiry. That same month, at the conference of Islamic states in Jeddah, a triple “holy alliance” was concluded between Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Sudan against Libya and Ethiopia. Feeling threatened by the Egypt-Sudan alliance, Gaddafi formed a tripartite alliance between Libya and Ethiopia and South Yemen in August 1981, aimed at countering Western, primarily American, interests in the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean.
Muammar Gaddafi, Algerian President Houari Boumediene and Hafez Assad, December 1977.

On August 13, 1983, during his visit to Morocco Muammar Gaddafi signed the Arab-African Federative Treaty with the Moroccan King Hassan II in the city of Oujda, providing for the creation of a union state of Libya and Morocco as the first step towards the creation of the Greater Arab Maghreb. On August 31, a referendum was held in Morocco, as a result of which the treaty was approved by 99.97% of voters; The Libyan General People's Congress supported it unanimously.

Libya had been supporting the Polisario front, which was waging a guerrilla war against Moroccan forces, and the signing of the treaty marked the end of Libyan aid. The alliance began to fall apart when Libya signed an alliance with Iran in 1985, and after Gaddafi criticized the Moroccan king for his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, King Hassan II completely annulled the agreement in August 1986. The fall of the Nimeiri regime in Sudan at the same time led to an improvement in Sudanese-Libyan relations. Gaddafi stopped supporting the Sudan People's Liberation Army and welcomed the new government of General Abdel Rahman Swar al-Daghab. In 1985, Gaddafi announced the formation of the “National (Regional) Command of the Arab Revolutionary Forces” with the aim of “carrying out armed coups in reactionary Arab countries and achieving Arab unity”, as well as to “destroy US and Israeli embassies, institutions and other facilities in countries pursuing an anti-Libyan policy and supporting the United States.” The following year, during the International People's Congress held in Libya, Colonel Gaddafi was proclaimed the commander of a unified all-Arab army and the ideological leader of all liberation movements in the world. Muammar Gaddafi visited three times Soviet Union- in 1976, 1981 and 1986 and met with L. I. Brezhnev and M. S. Gorbachev.

In the 1980s Gaddafi organized training camps in Libya for rebel groups from all over West Africa, including the Tuaregs. In 1981, Somalia broke off diplomatic relations with Libya, accusing the Libyan leader of supporting the Somali Democratic Salvation Front and the Somali National Movement. September 1, 1984 Muammar Gaddafi announced that he had sent troops and weapons to Nicaragua to help the Sandinista government fight the United States. In March 1986, when Gaddafi hosted the Congress of the World Center for the Struggle against Imperialism and Zionism, among his guests were representatives of the Irish Republican Army, the Basque separatist group ETA and the leader of the radical American organization "Nation of Islam", African-American Muslim Louis Farrakhan. In the 1980s The leader of the Libyan revolution actively supplied the IRA with weapons, considering its activities part of the fight against “British colonialism.” Libya provided assistance to such national liberation and nationalist movements as the Palestinian organizations PLO, Fatah, PFLP and DFLP, Mali Liberation Front, United Patriotic Front of Egypt, Moro National Liberation Front, Arabistan Liberation Front, Arabian Popular Liberation Front, African National Congress, Popular Front liberation of Bahrain, SWAPO, FRELIMO, ZAPU-ZANU. Libya was also suspected of supporting the Japanese Red Army. In an exclusive interview with The Washington Post in 2003, Gaddafi explained:
“I supported the struggle for national liberation, not terrorist movements. I supported Mandela and Sam Nujoma, who became President of Namibia. I also supported the Palestine Liberation Organization. Today these people are received with honor in the White House. But they still consider me a terrorist. I was not wrong when I supported Mandela and the liberation movements. If colonialism returns to these countries, I will again support movements for their liberation."

Gaddafi took a tough stance towards Israel. On March 2, 1970, the Libyan leader appealed to the 35 members of the Organization of African Unity to break off relations with Israel. In October 1973, the third Arab-Israeli war broke out. On October 16, Saudi Arabia, Iran, the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar unilaterally raised the selling price of their oil by 17% to $3.65. Three days later, in protest of Israel's support in the Yom Kippur War, Libya declared an oil embargo on the United States. Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries followed suit, initiating an oil embargo against countries that had provided or contributed to support for Israel. In 1984 Gaddafi announced that
“The armed forces of Libya were created to liberate Palestine, to destroy the Zionist entity, and also to revise the world map created by the imperialists and draw new borders... The armed people will take over the entire Arab world, they will rise up to fight and cure the Zionist ulcer on their bodies "."

Libya was suspected of mining the Red Sea in 1984, which damaged 18 ships. On April 17 of the same year, an incident received wide resonance when fire was opened on Libyan demonstrators from the building of the Libyan People's Bureau (embassy) in London, resulting in the death of British police officer Yvonne Fletcher and injury to 11 other people. After this, on April 22, Great Britain broke off diplomatic relations with Libya. In a 2009 interview with Sky News, Gaddafi said: “She is not our enemy and we are sorry all the time and [express] our sympathy because she was on duty, she was there to protect the Libyan embassy. But there is a problem that needs to be solved - who did this?

Domestic policy

Having come to power, the revolutionary government not only faced opposition to the new regime, but also internal problems within its ranks. On December 7, 1969, the SRC announced that it had thwarted a coup attempt by Lieutenant Colonel Defense Minister Adam Hawwaz and Interior Minister Musa Ahmed. A few months later, on July 24, 1970, Gaddafi announced the discovery of an “imperialist reactionary conspiracy” in Fezzan, in which the king’s adviser Omar Shelhi, ex-prime ministers Abdel Hamid Bakoush and Hussein Mazik were involved, and the investigation reportedly established “the involvement of the American CIA to deliver weapons for the impending coup."

Political parties and opposition groups were banned under Law No. 71 of 1972. The only legal political party in the country in 1971-1977. there was the Arab Socialist Union. In August 1975, after an unsuccessful coup attempt, one of Colonel Gaddafi's closest associates, the Minister of Planning and Scientific Research, Major Omar Moheishi, fled to Tunisia and then moved to Egypt. The magazine Jeune Afrique wrote at the time:
"With the betrayal of Omar Moheishi, M. Gaddafi lost one of my longest-standing associates. They sat at the same desk at school, together they chose a military career with the firm intention of turning the Libyan army into an effective instrument for overthrowing the monarchy. More recently, in early August, Moheishi accompanied the head of state to Kampala for the UAE summit conference, then received a delegation of Lebanese journalists. Subsequently M. Gaddafi didn’t say a single word about it. One of the Libyan ministers, meanwhile, whispered to a journalist friend that the Libyan leader “is very worried about the betrayal of his best friend.”

The magazine then concluded: “The only thing that can console the colonel is Nasser’s precedent: Rais was also betrayed by Marshal Amer, and he must part with his closest assistant.” As A.Z. Egorin notes in his work “The Libyan Revolution”, after Moheishi, Huni, Hawvadi, Gervi, Najm and Hamza left the political arena. Of the 12 members of the SRC, Jelloud, Jaber, Kharroubi and Hmeidi remained with Gaddafi.

Since 1980, more than 15 Libyan anti-Gaddafi exiles have been killed in Italy, England, West Germany, Greece and the USA.

In October 1981, the Libyan National Salvation Front (NLNF) was formed, led by the former Libyan ambassador to India, Muhammad Yusuf al-Maghariaf, which was based in Sudan until the fall of President Nimeiry's regime in 1985. The front claimed responsibility for the attack on Gaddafi's headquarters at Bab al-Aziziya on May 8, 1984. According to the National Salvation Front of Libya (NLNF), in the period from 1969 to 1994. 343 Libyans who opposed the Gaddafi regime died, of which 312 people died on Libyan territory (84 people died in prisons, 50 people were publicly shot by the verdict of revolutionary tribunals, 148 people died in plane crashes, car accidents and as a result of poisoning, 20 people died in armed clashes with regime supporters, four were shot dead by security agents and six people died because they were denied emergency medical attention).

Sometimes Muammar Gaddafi showed great leniency towards dissidents. On March 3, 1988, he ordered the release of 400 political prisoners from Abu Sadim prison. In the presence of a crowd of thousands, Gaddafi, driving a bulldozer, broke the prison door and shouted to the prisoners: “You are free,” after which a crowd of prisoners rushed into the gap, chanting: “Muammar, born in the desert, made the prisons empty!” The Libyan leader proclaimed this day the Day of Victory, Freedom and the Triumph of Democracy. A few days later, he tore up the “black lists” of persons suspected of dissident activities.

The army and the concept of “armed people” of Muammar Gaddafi

By the time of the revolution, the strength of the armed forces of Libya numbered only 8.5 thousand people, but in the first 6 months of its rule Muammar Gaddafi at the expense of conscripts and by reassigning several hundred people from the paramilitary national security forces, he doubled the size of the Libyan army, bringing it to 76 thousand people by the end of the 1970s. In 1971, the Ministry of Defense was liquidated, the functions of which were assigned to the Main Military Command. During his speech on April 15, 1973 in Zuwara Gaddafi stated: "At a time when all regimes usually fear their people and create an army and police force to protect themselves, unlike them, I will arm the Libyan masses who believe in the al-Fatih revolution." Serious difficulties were caused by the program he put forward back in 1979 to eliminate the traditional army by replacing it with an “armed people” capable, in the opinion of the Libyan leader, of repelling any external aggression. As part of the implementation of this idea, for almost a decade, measures were proclaimed and taken to attract women to military service, militarization of cities and educational institutions, as well as the creation of a kind of militia units. Revolutionary committees were created in the armed forces, taking control of the activities of officers. August 31, 1988 Colonel Gaddafi announced the “dissolution of the classical army and traditional police” and the formation of formations of “armed people.” Developing his concept of an “armed people,” he also announced the dissolution of the security apparatus. The September 1989 decree abolished all former military ranks, and replaced the General Command Armed Forces The General Provisional Defense Committee came. In June 1990, the voluntary Jamahiriya Guard was formed.

According to official data, Muammar bin Mohammed Abu Menyar Abdel Salam bin Hamid al-Gaddafi was born on September 13, 1942. However, the exact date is not reliably known, and many researchers are inclined to believe that he was born in 1940. Gaddafi himself liked to say that he was born in a Bedouin tent 30 kilometers from the city of Sirte. His father, a native of the al-Qaddafa tribe, was a shepherd and wandered from place to place. The mother and three older daughters ran the household. However, there was also a version that Muammar was a descendant of ancient Bedouin tribes that came from Iraq.

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There is also a more exotic version, according to which Gaddafi was a Jew. There are rumors that the former leader of the Jamahiriya was the son of pilot Albert Preziosi from the French Normandie-Niemen air regiment. It is known that in 1941 the pilot spent some time in the Libyan desert, where his plane crashed. There, according to legend, he met with a Palestinian Jewish woman, a nurse, who gave birth to his son Muammar.Albert Preziosi died in 1943. It is worth noting that no documentary evidence of this version of Gaddafi’s birth has yet been discovered.

After finishing school, Gaddafi entered the Libyan University in Benghazi in 1959. Having completed his studies as a lawyer, the future colonel entered the Military Academy. In 1965, he was sent to the active army. Gaddafi was then sent to study in the UK, where he studied armored vehicles. By the way, information about Gaddafi’s education is very contradictory. So, they say that he allegedly graduated from the Libyan military school before studying in Britain. There are also versions that he studied history at the Libyan University or only attended an evening course of lectures there.

While still a student, Gaddafi created a secret organization called Free Unionist Socialist Officers, which aimed to seize power.

In 1969, Gaddafi was appointed adjutant of the Signal Corps and led one of the plots. On September 1, a group of rebels under the command of Captain Gaddafi captured a number of sites in Tripoli, including a radio station through which they announced the overthrow of King Idris I, declaring Libya a republic. From this moment on, Gaddafi effectively rules the country. After the revolution, Gaddafi was given the rank of colonel, which he retained even after he was promoted to general.

Gaddafi began to impose a new order in Libya with an iron fist. He established a regime based on people's committees and assemblies, and later proclaimed a people's republic, in which he banned all political organizations except his own. Having established the country's governance system, Gaddafi resigned as president in 1979, declaring his intention to work to “continue the revolution.” And by the end of the 1980s, he completely abandoned all official posts and began to be called a revolutionary leader, however, all government of the country remained in his hands.

Gaddafi was a practicing Muslim. After coming to power, he carried out a calendar reform, starting the calendar from the year of the death of the Prophet Muhammad. In addition, prohibition was introduced in Libya, gambling was banned, theaters were closed, Western music was banned, and Sharia law was in effect. In everyday life, Gaddafi was outwardly unpretentious and led an ascetic lifestyle. A faithful companion of his trips to other countries was the Bedouin tent, which he pitched in the center of the world's capitals. The colonel was married twice. He left his first wife after the coup, leaving himself a son. The second wife was a nurse from a military hospital. From this marriage Gaddafi had seven children.

It is known that Muammar Gaddafi survived a number of assassination attempts. Thus, in 1975, during a military parade, an attempt was made to fire at the podium where the Libyan leader was sitting. That same year, the military unsuccessfully attempted a coup, and in 1996 they tried to blow up his car. But the perpetrators mixed up the vehicles, and as a result, several people from Gaddafi’s guard were killed, who himself was not injured. It’s interesting that when he first came to power, he drove a modest Volkswagen without security, and went shopping to a regular store. But several assassination attempts forced him to radically change his lifestyle and reduce direct contacts with the people to a minimum.

Gaddafi was known as a great lover of women. When he gave interviews, he preferred to talk to female journalists. He has repeatedly stated that “a man should be content with only one wife,” although Islam allows up to four. Other hobbies of the former leader of the Jamahiriya include a passion for horses, hunting, and weapons. Gaddafi loved to dress beautifully, often changing his outfits (most of them were national clothes and military uniforms). It is noteworthy that the colonel’s military uniforms were always different: he wore a naval uniform, an air force officer’s uniform, and a ground uniform. An indispensable attribute were dark glasses that hid his eyes.

The former leader of Libya has been accused of terrorist activities more than once. In particular, he is credited with four attempts on the life of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and an attempt to sink a British transport ship with several hundred Jews. In 1981, the United States accused Libya, led by Gadaffi, of preparing an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan. He was also suspected of involvement in several terrorist attacks: two explosions in London, mining the Red Sea, and organizing the shelling of people near the Libyan embassy in the British capital. In addition, the Libyans were suspected of involvement in the hijacking of the passenger ship Achille Lauro and the explosion at a disco in West Berlin.

All this led to American aircraft striking targets in Libya that could be used to train terrorists. The raids killed 101 Libyans, including Gaddafi's adopted daughter, and wounded his wife and two sons. The response to this action was the explosion of a passenger Boeing 747 flying from London to New York over the Scottish city of Lockerbie. This happened on December 21, 1988. The attack killed 270 people. After a three-year investigation, two main suspects were identified - they turned out to be members of the Libyan intelligence services. It was only in 2002 that Gaddafi admitted his country’s guilt for the Lockerbie attack and promised compensation to the relatives of the victims.

At the same time, many Libyans remember the period of Gaddafi's rule with warmth. It is known that he spent most of the petrodollars on the needs of the people. For example, there was practically no unemployment in the country, most citizens had their own separate housing, universities were functioning, and hospitals met international standards. The income received from the sale of oil (about 10 billion dollars a year) was distributed for the needs of the state and among the citizens of the country (each of 600 thousand families received 7-10 thousand dollars a year). True, the families that received the money could not dispose of it at their own discretion, but had the right to buy only the most necessary goods.

Interesting fact: Libya ranked first among Arab countries in the number of satellite dishes per capita.

Muammar Gaddafi often surprised everyone with his extravagant antics. He loved to travel on a grand scale. On his trips he was always accompanied by a detachment of armed female bodyguards, in which, as they say, only virgins were taken. On some tours, the Libyan leader took camels with him, whose milk he liked to drink even when visiting other countries. In the mid-2000s, he proclaimed Libya as the birthplace of Coca-Cola and demanded royalties for the use of the brand, claiming that all the components of the drink were originally supplied from Africa. In addition, the colonel stated that William Shakespeare was an Arab emigrant whose real name was Sheikh Zubair.

Despite the odiousness, many world leaders communicated and met with the Libyan leader. However, everything changed dramatically when the Arab Spring swept across the Middle East. In the wake of political protests in a number of countries, troops from Western countries decided to support the opposition in Libya. As a result, Gaddafi's regime fell and he himself was killed. And at first he was subjected to cruel abuse. Footage circulated around the world showing the bleeding Libyan leader being led through a crowd. At this moment they poke him with everything that was in the hands of the people around him - sticks, knives, weapons. They say that they not only beat him, but even poured sand and other monstrous things into his wounds. The torture continued for approximately three hours until the colonel died.

And even after that, they did not stop mocking Gaddafi: his corpse was dragged by his feet through the streets of Sirte, the colonel’s hometown, in which he fought to the last. The details of the massacre of Gaddafi disgusted even those Libyans who welcomed his capture and death. Before burial, Gaddafi's body was kept in a refrigerator for several days so that everyone could look at it. Only when the corpse began to decompose was it interred in a secret place.

Lockerbie materials and lies about MH-17

State espionage for state lies - what the Lockerbie files show about the MH17 lie

This month marks thirty years since the bombing of Pan American Flight PA 103 (photo above left), en route from London to New York. The British and American government's false story, concocted to blame Libya and justify the overthrow of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, required evidence to be falsified and the wrong man convicted in a rigged trial. It also required spying on the relatives of those who died in order to thwart their attempts to get to the truth.
The scale of the operation was revealed last week by the partial release of British government documents from the UK National Archives. Among the espionage operations uncovered were phone tapping, computer hacking and e-mail browsing.

The disclosed archived information also shows that the same methods have been used since 2014 to fabricate responsibility for the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 (photo above right) over Ukraine and justify global sanctions against Russia, plus operations to overthrow President Vladimir Putin.
But thirty years of state secrets to justify state lies is not enough to bring those responsible for those lies to justice, or to make the truth stronger than them.
Flight PA 103 was destroyed over Lockerbie, Scotland on December 21, 1988. It had taken off from London and had been flying at cruising altitude to New York for an hour when a bomb exploded in the cargo compartment. All 259 passengers on board the plane were killed, as well as 11 people on the ground.

Front pages of Murdoch newspapers: left - 24 February 2011; right - October 20, 2011
On the left there is a large headline: “Gaddafi ordered the bombing of a plane over Lockerbie”, on the right: “Gaddafi killed by a bullet in the head. This is for Lockerbie. And for Yvonne Fletcher. And for the victims of the Irish Republican Army.”
A 30-year order to withhold government documents in the case will now expire at the National Archives. A preliminary report in Murdoch's newspaper last week claimed that they had "seen" the documents, but the newspaper is not publishing them directly or in full. The documents were reported in the Scottish section of Friday's edition of The Times. There is a similar message in the Scottish Sun.

The report said officials in then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's government agreed on special, secret measures to "closely monitor" relatives of the dead passengers as they tried to investigate the facts of what happened. The newspaper report does not identify by name the Foreign Office officials whose correspondence with the Scottish Lord Advocate (Attorney General for Scotland) and Thatcher was reviewed. It also does not provide details of the surveillance and hacking operations, nor does it disclose the role that mainstream media outlets and their journalists played in the official deception.

This newspaper report appears to confirm that most of the British government's documents on the Lockerbie case continue to be withheld; the most important of them may have been destroyed to prevent them from being made public, according to victims' representatives. The Murdoch media, which led the open falsification, continues to persist.

(In the US, the lead prosecutor in the Libyan case was Robert Mueller, who is now the special counsel prosecuting alleged Russian interference in American politics. Three years after the Lockerbie attack, Mueller was the acting deputy attorney general in charge of bringing the charges in November 1991 to Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, a Libyan later convicted of the attack.)

The British Foreign Office told reporters last week: "We will not comment on the contents of our archived documents."

Additional reports in Scotland and Channel 4 in London quoted Aamer Anwar, al-Megrahi's lawyer, as saying: "It is not surprising that the intelligence services have been ordered to monitor those British relatives who have not yet given up their search for the truth... Anwar said , shockingly, the British State refused to release documents while destroying some of them during the trial: "My clients consider this an attempt to pervert the course of justice... I have written to the Lord Advocate requesting full disclosure of all relevant facts, discovered by the police."

In the MH17 case, British courts refused to open government documents or allow first-degree relatives' lawyers to establish the cause of death of the ten British citizens who died on board the plane. The decision to ban coroner's court hearings in Britain was made by the Home Secretary in July 2015 - today's Prime Minister Theresa May. Read more about how this was done here. The Australian government went further by withholding secret intelligence and briefing notes between the attorney general and the prime minister that concluded the Russian culpability position was untenable.

Similar operations to plant fabricated evidence in Murdoch publications and other mainstream media, withhold counter-evidence, as well as surveillance operations, hacking computers and discrediting alternative sources continue by Dutch and Australian intelligence services. But there is one difference. Organizations of relatives of the victims of the Lockerbie attack - mostly British and American - have proven better organized and more persistent over the years, and much more negative towards the government's version of what happened.

The downing of flight MH17 resulted in the death of 298 passengers and crew. No relatives have publicly disputed the story of Russian responsibility.

Dutch sources say they believe the Dutch Foreign Ministry and intelligence agencies have teamed up to keep the families of the MH17 victims under constant surveillance. The families were advised to instruct lawyers to pursue charges against Russian targets in local, European and American courts. They are being kept from talking to journalists who are known to be critical of the official version of what caused the plane's destruction.

Agents from Australian and possibly US intelligence agencies were visible during a hearing at the coroner's court in Melbourne, Australia, in December 2015. This was the first of only two coroner's court proceedings to take place in the world; another trial took place in Sydney in May 2016. Australian law requires coroners to investigate the deaths of 28 Australian citizens or foreign citizens who had a permanent residence permit on board flight MH17.

The front pages of Murdoch's newspapers: on the left - the London Sun, July 18, 2014; on the right is the Melbourne Herald Sun, October 14, 2015.
Headlines from left to right: "Flight MH17 shot down in the sky. Putin's missile"; "A Russian missile shot down MH17. Putin's rebels did it"
At the hearing in Melbourne, I was in court and watched as a group of government agents, men and women, worked to shield the families of the victims from requests and questions from journalists. At the back of the courtroom, journalists sat in a single row; families sat in the main rows in the procedural area. I was sitting directly behind one of the families. Just as I started asking questions of one family member, a 30-something year old woman tried to stop me, saying I was talking too loudly; however, the coroner was not present at the meeting and the trial itself was not taking place at that moment. The agent then whispered something to other family members and the conversation with me ceased.

I reported at the time: "In court, in addition to the coroner's staff, there was one government intelligence agent who hid his official identification mark under his jacket and refused to say whether he was an Australian or an American citizen. The officer, who was in his thirties, was conspicuous during a break in the trial in the court corridor. He looked like an American."

Also: "The court heard that surviving relatives of the crash victims were regularly counseled and counseled by Australian government officials. They were also instructed not to answer questions from the press, although one admitted that his family was allowed to meet with lawyers. These statements were made in evidence at the coroner's inquest by representatives of the victims. One, representing members of the Van Den Hende family - Shaliza Duval, her husband Hans Van Den Hende and their three children - Piers, 15, Marnix, 12, and daughter Margot, 8 - said, that press reports about the crash were dubious and inconclusive: "we're not sure who or what to believe."

This remark was never repeated.

PS. And also on the topic of operations of the British intelligence services. Hackers from Anonymous recently dumped the 4th package of documents on the AI ​​operation, which contains documents on discrediting Jeremy Corbyn, Russia Today, the Skripal case, operations in Nigeria, Hungary and Armenia. The Skripal case as part of Operation AI was called “Operation Iris.” Data is provided on the payment for commissioned articles in the Skripal case and various activities that were carried out within the framework of this case to discredit the Russian Federation.

N.B. And these same pieces of s...then call the Russians "uncivilized" and suggest they "go away and shut up"... hmmm...

Slave market. Tripoli. Modern Libya, without the nightmare dictator Kadafi. Do you feel the scope of European democracy? December 2018
That feeling when the bearers of democracy killed the “dictator” and civilization came to the country...

On October 20, 2011, the former head of Libya Muammar Gaddafi was killed in the vicinity of besieged Sirte.

The convoy, in which Gaddafi tried to escape from the city, came under attack from NATO aircraft, which had been conducting a military operation in Libya since March 2011.

As a result of the strike, the former Libyan leader was wounded in both legs and head. The wounded Gaddafi took refuge in a drainage structure, but Western-backed rebels - one of the units of the transitional National Council of Libya (TNC) - overtook him and captured him, and later brutally killed him.

Libya before and after Gaddafi

Muammar Gaddafi, who ruled Libya for 42 years, overthrew the monarchy and established a new political regime in the country - the Jamahiriya, which differed from both a monarchy and a republic.

The Gaddafi government allocated revenues from oil production to social needs, thanks to which the country implemented large-scale programs for the construction of public housing, the development of healthcare and education systems.

• Muammar Gaddafi
• Reuters
• Louafi Larbi

In mid-February 2011, mass anti-government demonstrations began in the country. Subsequently, they escalated into an armed conflict between government forces and the opposition. In March, a military invasion of Libya by the forces of the international coalition, which includes NATO countries, began.

During almost nine months of fighting, opponents of the Gaddafi regime managed to establish control over almost the entire territory of Libya. At the end of August, opposition forces, supported by NATO aircraft, occupied the Libyan capital Tripoli.

After the fall of Muammar Gaddafi's regime, the country actually disintegrated into several territories controlled by different groups. In 2012, power in Libya transferred from the Transitional National Council, formed during the civil war, to the General National Congress.

By the end of 2015, Libya had two parliaments and two governments. Executive and legislative bodies controlled by Islamists operated in Tripoli. In Tobruk, under the protection of the troops of General Khalifa Haftar, the former military leader of Gaddafi's army, there was a UN-recognized government and a National Parliament elected in general elections.

In 2016, the Libyan Government of National Accord was formed, led by businessman Fayez Sarraj. On March 31 of the same year, it began work in the Libyan capital.

• Clashes in Libya, September 2011
• Reuters
• Goran Tomasevic

Now the authorities in Tripoli, which rely on a coalition of various pro-Islamist formations in the west of the country, are considered internationally recognized, but the Haftar government is not. Meanwhile, oil-rich zones fell into the hands of extremists who swore allegiance to the Islamic State*.

It was after the overthrow of Gaddafi that international terrorists poured into Libya en masse, Dmitry Egorchenkov, director and coordinator of Middle Eastern studies at the Institute of Strategic Studies and Forecasts of the RUDN University, noted in a conversation with RT.

“And their influence on the internal political situation in the country continues to be significant and serious. If we say about Syria that victory over terrorists is about to be won, then this cannot yet be said about Libya,” he emphasized.

"Libya is no more"

Libya as a state no longer exists, says RT Arabic employee Muhammad al-Hafiyan, a native of Libya.

According to him, after the fall of the Gaddafi regime, Libya plunged into chaos.

“Libya now lives in fear and chaos. No state, no laws. Poverty,” he says.

“People have no electricity, no money. Even those who have them in their accounts cannot cash them out, because there is simply no money in the country. Billions of dollars that Gaddafi left Libya were stolen. We can say that the country has almost gone bankrupt. Life for Libyans is harsh now,” the journalist added.

When Gaddafi was in power, notes al-Hafiyan, Libya lived calmly, the country was prosperous and prosperous. NATO, in his opinion, did not care that after their departure internal factions would continue to fight.

“The economy was stable. And then NATO came with promises of democracy. They followed Gaddafi and killed him. And then they left Libya without thinking about what would happen next,” he emphasized.

“Each district has its own government”

According to the Libyan, there are different groups operating within the country that are fighting among themselves.

“Libya does not exist as a single country now. Each district has its own government,” the journalist added.

As Dmitry Egorchenkov noted, a unified management system has not been established in the Middle Eastern country and there is still no understanding on what principles this management system will be built.

According to him, competition between various political forces continues in the country.

“They continue to compete with each other - both for political power and for the economic bonuses that Libya, as a state, has. We are talking primarily about energy resources, the reserves of which the country has and precisely due to which it has reached the level of socio-economic development that was quite high under Gaddafi and which can be counted on in the future, when hostilities are stopped,” says the political scientist.

During these six years, Libya ceased to exist as a state, confirms Egorchenkov.

“Over these six years, Libya has completely ceased to exist as a state on the political map. Unfortunately, the processes that were launched by Western partners in Libya after the regime change are still plunging the country into virtual bloody chaos,” he said.

Heirs of Gaddafi

Muammar Gaddafi had eight natural children and two adopted children.

Adopted children Hannah and Milad Abuztaya died back in April 1986 during a US military operation. The Libyan leader's son Muatasem was killed along with him in Sirte in 2011.

The youngest of seven sons, 29-year-old Saif al-Arab, as well as three grandchildren of Muammar Gaddafi died on the night of May 1, 2011 as a result of NATO airstrikes.

The remaining relatives of the late Libyan leader - Gaddafi's wife Safiya, daughter Aisha and sons Muhammad (from his first marriage) and Hannibal and their families left for Algeria in August 2011.

Gaddafi's son Saadi managed to escape to Niger in mid-September 2011.

• Saif al-Islam Gaddafi
• Reuters
• Ismail Zetouni

Gaddafi's eldest son Saif al-Islam was arrested in November 2011 by representatives of the armed forces of the Libyan National National Assembly while trying to cross the border with Niger.

In June 2017, he was released from prison in the Libyan city of Zintan. This was reported by the armed group Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, which previously held the politician.

It was reported that Saif was released from prison as a result of a general amnesty declared by the Libyan parliament at the end of May 2017. A few days ago, on October 17, it became known that 44-year-old Saif al-Islam began political activity in Libya.

“Saif al-Islam is involved in the life of Libyan society, he maintains contacts with public figures and leaders of Libyan tribes in order to formulate a comprehensive program,” TASS quotes Gaddafi family lawyer Khaled al-Zaidi.

Saif al-Islam, an architect and engineer by training, was considered by Muammar Gaddafi as a likely successor.

* “Islamic State” (IS) is a terrorist organization banned in Russia.

Various tales are told about Colonel Gaddafi. Some call him a genius, some a demon, and some a madman. Rumors are being spread that he regularly consults psychiatrists in Egypt, Yugoslavia and Switzerland. But he is an extraordinary personality in post-monarchical Libya, for whom there is no alternative in the Libyan Jamahiriya yet...

COLONEL GADDAFI - THE FURIOUS SON OF A BEDOUIN

The name of Muammar Gaddafi does not leave the pages of Libyan newspapers and magazines. It is an integral part of feature films and theatrical productions.

When foreign journalists asked the Bedouin colonel how he felt about the actual deification of his person, he modestly replied:

What can I do?! My people insist on this...

The Libyan leader was disingenuous. He loves to show off, and is constantly concerned about how he looks from the outside. When the Yugoslavs made a short film about him, it took an hour and a half just to choose the most successful shooting angle. And I myself noticed the colonel’s penchant for spectacular gestures and poses when I was in Libya in April 1986 and interviewed this son of the desert.

FROM THE TENT TO THE TOP OF POWER

His full name- Muammar bin Mohammed Abu Menyar Abdel Salam bin Hamid al-Gaddafi. The exact date of birth continues to remain a mystery. Many of his biographers claim that the leader of Libya was born in 1940. Gaddafi himself writes everywhere that he was born in the spring of 1942 in a Bedouin tent 30 kilometers south of the city of Sirte.

His father, a native of the al-Qaddafa tribe, wandered from place to place, herding camels and goats. The mother and three older daughters took care of the housework.

But today the son of a simple Bedouin claims (and, of course, the media repeats him) that he is a descendant of the ancient noble Bedouin tribes that came from Iraq. However, should we be surprised?! Especially after several years ago he declared himself “the messiah of the Arab world, the successor of the work of the Prophet Muhammad, Jesus, and Moses.”

Remembering his childhood and youth, he once admitted...

I grew up in a clean environment, free from the infections of modern life. I became aware of the conditions in which my people lived and the suffering they endured under the yoke of colonialism. Young people in our society respected old people, we knew how to distinguish good from evil.

When Muammar was nine years old, his parents sent him to primary school. He graduated from it four years later and entered the secondary school, which was located in the city of Sebha. During his school years, he fell in love with books about heroes who sacrificed themselves in the name of freedom. Who knows, maybe it was these books that prompted Gaddafi to create an underground youth organization while still in school.

It must be said that the years of study of the future Colonel Sov

fell in time with the period of the birth of the opposition movement in Libya. At the same time, dissatisfaction with the royal regime began to mature among the urban and rural poor, the middle classes, and students. Groups opposing the royal regime began to appear in the largest cities and provincial centers. One of them was led by Muammar Gaddafi in 1956-1961.

At the beginning of October 1961, a youth demonstration in support of the Algerian revolution began in the city of Sebha. It immediately grew into a mass anti-monarchist uprising. The organizer and leader of the demonstration was Gaddafi. For this he was arrested and then expelled from the city. I had to continue my studies in Misrata. There he entered the local lyceum, which he successfully graduated in 1963.

Upon Gaddafi’s arrival in Misurata,” one of his associates, Muhammad Khalil, later said, “we decided to continue what we started in Sebha. That is, to attract a large number of like-minded people to your side, to find among young people those who believed in Arab unity, in the principles of freedom, in the need for radical changes in the country.

In 1963, at a meeting of three underground groups from Sebha, Tripoli, and Misrata, it was decided to create a single illegal organization, including two sections - military and civilian. Members of the first group, led by Muammar Gaddafi, left for Benghazi to attend a military college. Participants in the second entered various higher education institutions.

From the first days of his studies, Gaddafi established himself as the most exemplary cadet. No one in the college could suspect him as an enemy of the regime. He never betrayed himself either by word or deed. Therefore, the case opened against him back in Sebkha was never supplemented with anything. And his evening visits to history lectures at the University of Benghazi were perceived as quirks...

In 1964, the first congress of the organization took place near the small village of Telmeita, a few tens of kilometers from Benghazi. At Gaddafi's suggestion, its motto was the slogan put forward by the Egyptian revolution of 1952: “Freedom, socialism, unity!” The group of young, revolutionary-minded military men began to be called the “Organization of Free Officers of Unionist Socialists” (OSUSUS). At the congress, a code of conduct was developed and a Central Committee was elected. Its members, “in the name of implementing revolutionary ideas,” were forbidden to play cards, drink wine, visit places of entertainment, and were ordered to strictly observe all religious rituals.

The Central Committee was instructed to conduct targeted preparations for the uprising.

Committee members met monthly at first. Then, for purposes of secrecy, it was divided into groups that acted autonomously. Only Gaddafi knew the composition of the groups and their tasks.

Of course, the Free Officers had neither experience in political work nor a specific program of social transformation, not to mention strong ideological convictions. Nevertheless, they set themselves clearly formulated goals: the overthrow of the monarchical regime, the eradication of centuries-old backwardness, liberation from the military-political and economic domination of imperialism, the achievement of genuine national independence, the establishment of social justice of the broad masses, the struggle for Arab unity, for ensuring legal rights of the Arab people of Palestine.

After OSYUS members graduated from military college, communication between underground groups became more complicated. Yesterday's cadets were sent to the troops for further service. Gaddafi remained the leader and coordinator of the underground, who began serving in the signal forces in the Ghar Younes military camp, four kilometers from Benghazi. He received information about the activities of groups, about the situation in the troops, from him - instructions on illegal work, determination of places of appearances and meetings. In fact, already in 1966, the stage of direct preparation for a military coup began.

The influence of underground officers grew not only in the ground forces, but also in other branches of the armed forces. The situation with work among the intelligentsia, bureaucrats and in the business world was worse. A significant part of the local bourgeoisie, not to mention the feudal and high bureaucratic circles, were quite happy with the royal regime.

The June War of 1967 became a kind of catalyst for the revolution. The defeat of the Arabs in this war, which caused a spontaneous surge of patriotic sentiments and nationalist emotions throughout the Arab world, had a wide public response in Libya. Discontent was also brewing in the army. The patriotic feelings of military personnel, especially officers, were hurt by the fact that the monarchical government did not allow the army to take part in repelling Israeli aggression.

However, with general dissatisfaction with the royal regime and the majority of the officer corps moving into opposition, there were other movements in the army that expressed the interests of various social forces. Including feudal circles. The rightmost one

they were led by Colonel Abdel Aziz Shelhi, brother of the king's advisor. In 1969, he was appointed Deputy Chief of the General Staff and Chairman of the Royal Army Reorganization Committee. The latter position, as it turned out later, was invented as a screen to cover the preparation of a military coup.

The leaders of the Free Officers decided to seize the initiative. By that time, they already had enough of their supporters not only in the army, but also among the civilian population to decide on a preemptive action. The course was set to overthrow the royal regime with the help of a military counter-coup. A detailed plan for an armed military action was developed. This took into account not only domestic political factors, as Gaddafi later wrote, but also the foreign military presence in Libya.

The armed uprising planned before September 1969 to overthrow the royal regime was canceled several times. Gaddafi and his associates believed that hasty actions carried too much risk and unpredictable consequences.

In the summer of 1969, another movement campaign began in the army officers. It also affected Gaddafi, who received an order to immediately go to Tripoli for further service. These movements required making necessary adjustments to the plans of the “free officers.” The tension has reached its climax...

In the second half of August, it became known that King Idris was going abroad for treatment. Rumors spread in the army that Colonel Shelhi had decided to send a large group of officers for training abroad. Among them were many members of the underground organization, including Gaddafi.

Incoming information indicated that Colonel Shelhi, together with his supporters - a group of senior officers - intended to seize power on September 15 and proclaim a republic with a parliamentary form of government.

To implement the long-developed plan for the uprising, Gaddafi found it necessary to urgently leave Tripoli and return to Benghazi, where the general headquarters was located and the main military institutions were located.

In the early morning of September 1, 1969, detachments of members of the USSR under the leadership of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), created in preparation for the uprising, consisting of 12 officers led by Gaddafi, simultaneously began performances in Benghazi, Three

Olya and other cities of the country. They quickly established control over major government and military installations. All entrances to American bases were blocked in advance.

On the same day, Gaddafi, speaking on the radio, announced the overthrow of the monarchy in the country.

The revolution, he declared, would be guided by the principles of freedom, unity, social justice and equality of all citizens.

At the same time, it was announced that temporarily the supreme power would be exercised by the SRK. However, its quantitative and named composition was not announced for a long time. No one also knew who headed this highest authority.

Only two weeks after the revolutionary coup, 27-year-old Muammar Gaddafi was declared the leader of the revolution and chairman of the SRC. At the same time, it was announced that he had been awarded the rank of colonel (during the days of the coup he was captain of the signal troops).

He still wears the epaulets of a colonel, although in fact he is the commander-in-chief. He gives out general ranks very reluctantly, because he is convinced that this is “not the most important thing for a revolutionary army.”

For several weeks, while the new regime was strengthening and the names of its leaders were not announced, diplomats, journalists accredited in Libya, as well as representatives of foreign business and military circles, put forward a variety of versions and guesses (one more fantastic than the other) regarding the “real patrons” of the organizers of the revolutionary coup. They called the Russians, the CIA, the Nasserists...

It is necessary to emphasize here that Washington and its allies saw Gaddafi and his associates as provincial officers who had neither a serious long-term program, nor a broad social base within the country, nor political authority in the Arab world. The United States and Britain intended to use these transitory factors, along with their military and economic presence in Libya, to put pressure on the young, inexperienced Libyan leaders. It was on this basis that they hoped to find later with them " mutual language".

But these calculations turned out to be untenable.

The anti-imperialist orientation of the Libyan revolution manifested itself quite clearly already in the first months of the existence of the new regime.

On October 7, 1969, at the 24th session of the UN General Assembly, the Permanent Representative of Libya announced the Libyans' intention to eliminate all foreign bases on their soil. Following this

The Libyan leadership informed the ambassadors of the United States and England about the termination of the relevant agreements. Almost simultaneously, an attack began on the position of foreign capital in the country's economy.

The first results and immediate tasks of the Libyan revolution were enshrined in the Interim Constitutional Declaration promulgated on December 11, 1969. Islam was declared the official state religion. One of the main goals of the revolution was proclaimed to be the construction of socialism based on “religion, morality and patriotism.” Gaddafi and his associates intended to achieve this by “ensuring social justice, a high level of production, eliminating all forms of exploitation and fair distribution of national wealth.”

The Revolutionary Command Council was endowed with the functions of the main link in the political organization of society with the right to appoint a cabinet of ministers, declare war and conclude treaties, and issue decrees that had the force of law that concerned the main aspects of the internal life and foreign policy of the state. Chairman of the RRC Gaddafi was appointed head of the Libyan Arab Republic.

FATHER OF JAMAHIRIYAH

Today, the ideology and political structure of Libya is determined by a unique concept of social development put forward by Gaddafi and formulated in his Green Book, the first part of which was published in early 1976. It was called “Solving the Problem of Democracy (Power of the People).” The book was immediately declared (by Gaddafi’s obedient propaganda apparatus) “the main ideological document” of the state.

The colonel himself believes that his work represents “the final theoretical solution to human problems.” Back in 1986, he told me...

I want the Green Book to become the gospel of modern humanity.

According to Gaddafi's plans, the socialist society of Jamahiriya (translated from Arabic as “democracy”) should be based on three principles.

First. Implementation by the masses power through popular assemblies, where everyone participates in decision-making and the exercise of power.

Second. Possession by the people of social wealth, which is considered as the property of all members of society.

Third. Transfer of weapons to the people and training in their use in order to end the monopoly on weapons by the army.

Hence the slogan: “Power, wealth and weapons are in the hands of the people!”

I would like to remind you that the beginning of the period of "folk re

resolution" is usually associated with the Libyan leader's keynote speech, which he delivered in Zuwara in May 1973. In it, he first put forward the idea of ​​transferring full power to the people.

Any other system of government, he said, is undemocratic. Only people's congresses and people's committees represent the final result of the struggle for democracy.

These were not just words. At the end of 1975, elections of people's committees were held, and the governing bodies of the people's congresses were formed. In January 1976, the General People's Congress (GPC) was created. The republican stage of Libya's development has entered its completion stage. It began to develop into a fundamentally new “Jamahiriyya”, which changed not only the nature of power in the country, but also its philosophy, socio-political and economic development.

In March 1977, at an emergency session of the GNC, held in Sebkha, a Declaration was adopted, which proclaimed the new name of the country “Socialist People's Libyan Jamahiriya” (SNLAD), that its legislation was based on the Koran, and its political system on direct democracy. The Revolutionary Command Council and the government were dissolved. Instead, new institutions were created corresponding to the “Jamahiriyya” system. The General People's Congress was declared the supreme body of the legislative branch, and the Supreme People's Committee formed by it instead of the government - the executive branch. Ministries were replaced by people's secretariats, at the head of which bodies of collective leadership - bureaus - were created. Libyan embassies in foreign countries have also been transformed into people's bureaus.

In accordance with the populist principle of direct democracy, the role of the country's leader was formally taken outside the framework of the political system. By the way, back in 1974, Gaddafi was relieved of “political, protocol and administrative duties” in order to devote himself entirely to “ideological and theoretical work in organizing the masses.” However, until 1977 he remained head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. With the proclamation of the Jamahiriya, he was formally no longer able to perform any state functions. After all, the “Jamahiriyya” system officially denied the state as a form of political organization. From now on, Gaddafi was declared only the leader of the Libyan revolution. And this supposedly determined his true role in the country’s political system.

However, the real ideological and guiding

the effect not only of Gaddafi, but also of other former members of the SRC on further development and the functioning of the new system of power increased even more.

Explaining the essence of the changes that had taken place in the political system of Libya, Gaddafi in March 1977, at a mass rally in Tripoli, pointed out the ever-present danger to the gains of the Libyan revolution. In this regard, he called for its protection to be carried out by the entire “armed people.” However, the proclaimed goal of “replacing the army with an armed people” turned out to be impossible in practice.

The Sebha Declaration of 1977 actually replaced the previous constitution of 1969, although it itself was not of a constitutional nature, since the Green Book generally denied the role of the constitution as the fundamental law of society.

The true law of society is custom, or religion, says Gaddafi and always clarifies: “Religion includes custom, and custom is an expression of the natural life of peoples.” Laws that are not based on religion and custom are deliberately created by man against man. And because of this, they are unlawful, since they are not based on a natural source - custom and religion.

The political and legislative design of the “Jamahiriyya” system created only the superstructure of a new building on the old foundation. Economic structure remained fundamentally the same as what existed before the proclamation of the Jamahiriya. The Libyan leadership realized this quite clearly and made active preparations for an offensive on the economic front. The introduction of “Jamahiriyya” principles in this area was carried out through a long process of complex experiments, accompanied by an equally long series of trials and errors.

In September 1977, Gaddafi put forward the principle of “self-government in the economy” as the basis for the development of economic life. In accordance with this principle, the transition of enterprises to the collective management of those who work there was envisaged. The slogan he subsequently proclaimed was “Partners, not wage-earners", found a theoretical basis in the second part of the Green Book and began to be implemented in a number of manufacturing enterprises in November of the same year.

In development of the same populist idea, Gaddafi put forward a new slogan: “Housing is the property of its inhabitant.” That is, the person living in the house is the owner, and not its tenant. In May 1978, a law was passed, according to which the rental of residential premises was prohibited, and former tenants became the owner

and rental apartments and houses.

Carrying out the slogan “Partners, not employees,” workers and employees, under the leadership of people’s committees, seized enterprises and institutions in the field of not only production, but also trade, as well as various service services. The former owners received, along with compensation, the opportunity to participate in the management of these enterprises, but on the basis of “equal partnership with producers.” This campaign of “people's conquest,” as it was called in Libya, became a unique form of liquidation of the private property of the big and middle bourgeoisie.

The functioning of the political system of the Jamahiriya on the ground and especially in production was hampered both because of the sabotage of the bourgeois strata, and because of the insufficient preparedness of the measures being taken, and the inability of the new administrative apparatus to manage the economy. All this caused discontent and unrest among part of the population. Some of the Muslim clergy also opposed the political and economic innovations of the Libyan leadership. She accused Gaddafi of "deviating from the provisions of the Koran."

In response, the authorities took serious measures aimed at limiting the influence of the clergy. Gaddafi gave the opposition-minded “guardians of the purity of Islam” a public exam on their knowledge of the Koran on television. The theologians were unable to answer the questions of the leader of the Libyan revolution, and were compromised in the eyes of the believing population. This gave Gaddafi grounds to subsequently deprive some of them of the right to conduct religious services.

In March 1979, Gaddafi put forward a new idea - “separation of the revolution from power.” The Revolutionary Leadership of the SNLAD was formed, which began to rely on a network of revolutionary and popular committees. According to Gaddafi, the creation of new committees was supposed to involve as many local people as possible in the functioning of the “Jamahiriyya” system. larger number citizens. The populist principle of direct democracy has thus acquired an all-encompassing scope.

Formally, the Revolutionary leadership of the SNLAD did not participate in government. In fact, it began to play an even more important role in the political system of the Libyan Jamahiriya. Each member of the Revolutionary leadership had a specific range of responsibilities. For example, Gaddafi, while retaining the post of supreme commander of the armed forces, was also the general secretary of the General People's Congress.

Not finding in the so-called "Isla"

"socialism" of specific recipes for the transformation of society, Gaddafi constantly amended his theory. If before the "Green Book" Islam was considered one of the ideological sources of the official ideology, then in the third part of this book, published in the summer of 1979, "the truth of the third world theory" was no longer measured the postulates of Islam. On the contrary, the “truth” of the Islamic provisions themselves began to be assessed from the point of view of their compliance with this theory itself. Driving force history declared a national and social struggle. At the same time, Gaddafi clarified, “if we limited ourselves to only supporting Muslims, we would show an example of fanaticism and selfishness: True Islam is the one that defends the weak, even if they are not Muslims.”

In subsequent explanations and comments to the Green Book, many of its provisions were subject to significant adjustments. But this book still remains, as it were, the fundamental catechism of the official ideology in Libya.

The transformation of Libyan society into a modern political system, called the Jamahiriya, is accompanied by many zigzags and is proceeding more slowly than Gaddafi would like. But the system he created undoubtedly awakened the Libyan people to political activity. However, as he was forced to admit, “the participation of the people in governing the country was not complete.”

Therefore, at the GNC session held on November 18, 1992 in the city of Sirte, it was decided to create a new political structure in Libya. It envisioned the country's transition to the highest level of democracy - the exemplary Jamahiriya. We are talking about creating, instead of primary people's assemblies, one and a half thousand communes, which are self-governing mini-states within the state, possessing full power in their district, including the distribution of budget funds.

The need to reorganize the previous political system, as Gaddafi explained, was explained, first of all, by the fact that it “could not provide genuine democracy due to the complexity of the structure, which created a gap between the masses and the leadership, and suffered from excessive centralization.”

In general, the Socialist People's Arab Jamahiriya continues its course towards building a new “Islamic socialist society”, where the dominant slogan is “Power, wealth and weapons are in the hands of the people!”

DEMOCRAT AND EXEMPLARY FAMILY MAN

When Gaddafi came to power, he drove unguarded in a modest Volkswagen and bought groceries at the local supermarket with his wife. ABOUT

However, after several attempts on his life (as a result of one of them he was wounded in the arm), the Libyan leader’s lifestyle changed dramatically. Gaddafi reduced direct contacts with the masses to a minimum and chose his place of permanent residence Aziziya is a military base where the main command is located and the Bedouin tent city that serves as its residence.

Only a very narrow circle of Libyans see their leader. Reinforced posts control any approaches to the place where Gaddafi is currently located. In turn, each of the guards is under constant personal surveillance. When he leaves Azizia for Tripoli, two or three columns of vehicles, accompanied by armored personnel carriers, set off simultaneously. Nobody knows in which convoy the leader of the Libyan revolution, Muammar Gaddafi, is traveling. The same principle applies to the colonel’s flights: if he needs to fly to another state, two planes take off. Moreover, before departure, they circle in the air for several hours, checking whether a bomb is planted.

Journalists still recall the paradoxical situation in the control room international airport Tunisia, where the Libyan leader was supposed to arrive from Tripoli on an official visit. When asked from the ground, both pilots responded that there was a “very important person” on board. Moreover, both were sure that they were telling the truth...

However, despite his reclusive lifestyle, Gaddafi persistently imposes his image on the whole world common man, a democrat and an exemplary family man.

Speaking of family. Gaddafi's first marriage was unsuccessful. He married Fatima, the daughter of General Khalid, deputy chief of the general staff of the royal army, one of the close associates of the former Libyan monarch Idris. After the coup, he immediately dissolved his marriage, leaving behind his son, who now works as an engineer.

The colonel's loneliness did not last long. His bachelor life ended two months after the divorce, when he married Safiya, a nurse from a military hospital, with whom he is still with to this day. From this marriage, Gaddafi has five boys and a girl. Another daughter (adopted) died in April 1986 during an American air raid on Tripoli.

The Western press claims that Gaddafi has a long trail of reputation as a "considerable rake and ladies' man." Of the media representatives, he prefers to talk primarily with the weaker sex. Thus he seeks to show

I believe that women in Libya occupy an equal position with men in society.

Be that as it may, Gaddafi has repeatedly stated that “a man should be content with only one wife.” And although Islam allows you to have four, polygamous marriages are almost never practiced in Libya. Maybe the Libyans are following the example of their leader?

Journalists who have communicated with him recently say that Gaddafi is very strict with his household. For example, he gave in to the persistent requests of his daughter Aisha and allowed her to learn to play the piano. However, I never bought the instrument. The colonel also raises his sons in strictness, but without unnecessary moralizing and restrictions.

The Libyan leader's working day lasts 16-18 hours. But a couple of hours of sleep and a few exercises do a miracle - he is cheerful and fresh.

Moreover, during the day Gaddafi is engaged not only in the “jamahirization” of Libya, but also in self-education. Evil tongues claim that his reference book is "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Meanwhile, he knows well (and his opponents admit this) the history of the countries of the Old and New Worlds, loves to quote world classics of literature, including the Russians - L. Tolstoy and F. Dostoevsky. On his instructions, at the end of the 70s, the works of famous Russian anarchist theorists M. Bakunin and P. Kropotkin were translated into Arabic. Moreover, with a pencil in his hands, he worked through the collected works of V.I. Lenin and used many ideas when writing the “Green Book”.

In everyday life, Gaddafi is unpretentious and leads the life of an ascetic. At one time I even became interested in vegetarianism. He doesn't drink coffee, tea or alcoholic drinks, does not smoke, eats very little, mostly simple food.

He is not a hoarder and his family does not own real estate. Even his father (at the insistence of his son) lived in a Bedouin tent for the rest of his life. However, Gaddafi himself often lives for months in a Bedouin tent.

Still, Gaddafi, like any person, has his weaknesses. He loves to dress nicely and often changes his outfits. These are mainly national clothes. But his greatest passion is uniforms. He appears in public either in the uniform of a naval officer, or in the uniform of an Air Force colonel, or in the uniform of the ground forces. At the same time, the equipment is always complemented by dark glasses that completely hide the eyes.

Gaddafi is very pious, regularly performs all Muslim rituals, follows all the commandments of the Koran, which he learned by heart as a child. Made a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia and kissed Mecca

al sacred Black stone. But he is very unique in his interpretation of Islam.

In Libya, the muezzin's call to prayer sounds five times a day. Prohibition was introduced and gambling was prohibited. There are no theaters in the country, and the cinemas show mostly moralizing Arab films and Indian melodramas. Concerts and sport competitions are not carried out. Life in stadiums comes to life only during military parades.

For some time now, Sharia law has been in force: “to all thieves and bandits,” Gaddafi promised to “cut off a hand and amputate a leg.”

According to people who know Gaddafi well, he has a phenomenal memory for faces, names, and numbers. He knows thoroughly all the details about the people around him, about their children, relatives, and friends. But along with an extraordinary natural intelligence, enormous will and hard work, such traits as arrogance, excessive emotionality and hot temper coexist in him. On the other hand, when meeting, he is the first to offer his hand, smiles almost childishly, and immediately becomes serious as soon as the conversation takes on a business character. When receiving guests, he is never distracted by extraneous matters. At this time, no one bothers him, just as he himself does not call anyone to him.

Gaddafi is a difficult conversationalist and does not like idle talk. He loves to listen to everything that is said to him, but he also loves to be listened to, and without interrupting.

Considering himself the “father of the nation,” Gaddafi loves to speak in front of his people. As a rule, his speeches last 2-3 hours. Moreover, everyone knows in advance what exactly he will say, what problem he will touch upon, what topic he will joke about. Western diplomats in Libya, invariably present at all public speeches by the leader of the Jamahiriya, make bets, trying to guess how many times Gaddafi will curse the United States or Israel in his speech.

However, the hatred of Libyan number one, whom the West considers “a bone in the throat,” towards the stronghold of “world imperialism” is expressed not only in his fiery speeches before the exalted masses. There is no terrorist group operating against Israel that the frantic colonel would not help with money and weapons. Gaddafi turned Libya into a giant training camp for terrorists from all over the world.

It is not difficult to win Gaddafi's favor. It is enough just to prove to him your hatred of the state structures of the West and your readiness to fight against them with arms in hand. Hence such a motley mixture of destructive forces passing through Libya.

special sabotage and terrorist training.

Is all this known to ordinary Libyans? Of course! But they prefer to turn a blind eye to the “tricks” of their leader as a reward for a rather high level life. To Gaddafi’s credit, it must be admitted that he actually spent a considerable part of the petrodollars on the needs of his people. And he achieved that in such a socio-economic indicator as average annual income per capita (minimum wage a simple worker makes 6 thousand pounds sterling, and the income of enterprise managers reaches 30 thousand), Libya managed to bypass even Great Britain.

There is practically no unemployment in the country; most citizens have their own apartments, televisions, and VCRs. Universities and hospitals have been built that meet international standards.

Among Gaddafi's latest populist actions is purchasing expensive cars in South Korea and selling them to Libyans for a quarter of the price. He announced his decision to redistribute the country's oil revenues, which amount to about $10 billion a year. Half of this amount goes to the needs of the state and is distributed among the Libyans. As a result, about 600 thousand families received from 7 to 10 thousand dollars. According to Gaddafi, this allows, firstly, to put into practice his slogan “Wealth is in the hands of the people!”, and, secondly, to equalize the incomes of poor and wealthy citizens. True, Gaddafi warned that families who received money cannot use it at their own discretion: they can spend it only on the most necessary needs, and not on the purchase of expensive imported consumer goods.

Judging by the fact that Libya today ranks first among Arab countries in the number of satellite dishes per capita, the Libyans ignored the warning of their leader. Moreover, recently Libyans have begun to relax in public: families go on a picnic, to the sea or to the forest...

Among Gaddafi's hobbies, his passion for horses and hunting (the latter is the result of communication with the former Romanian dictator Ceausescu), interest in various types of weapons and special communications equipment are known.

* * *

Various tales are told about Colonel Gaddafi. Some call him a genius, some a demon, and some a madman. Rumors are being spread that he regularly consults psychiatrists in Egypt, Yugoslavia and Switzerland. But he is an extraordinary personality in post-monarchical Libya, for whom there is no alternative in the Libyan Jamahiriya yet..