Born in a Bedouin tent in Libya in 1942, Moammar Gadhafi soared to power after a bloodless coup and became the country’s longest serving and most notorious leader.
The once-powerful leader was killed, according to the Libyan prime minister, when revolutionary forces overwhelmed his hometown of Sirte, the last major bastion of resistance two months after the regime fell.
The man who ruled Libya with a dictatorial grip for 42 years reinvented himself several times during his reign.
After taking power in 1969, Gadhafi became an international pariah thanks to his support of terrorism and his larger-than-life personality.
His wardrobe was eccentric and his speeches polarized people.
Gadhafi rebuilt his relationship with Western powers in the early 2000s after denouncing terrorism and taking responsibility for the most notorious Libyan-supported terrorist action – the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.
But he has once again raised the ire of the Libyan people and the international community after ordering a bloody crackdown on civilians protesting his rule in February.
Global News looks back at his rise to power and repeated falls from grace.
Rise to power
Gadhafi was born near the town of Sirte. He was heavily influenced by the Arab nationalist ideals of Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser, and he protested against Israel during the 1956 Suez crisis.
In 1961, Gadhafi entered the Libyan military academy in Benghazi, where he met many of those who would help him overthrow the monarchy and start his reign.
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The group moved in to topple King Indris and established the Libyan Arab Republic in place of the monarchy.
Throughout the 1970s, Gadhafi forwarded his political philosophy, which was meant to present an alternative to socialism and capitalism, while being rooted in some aspects of Islam.
The leader set up revolutionary committees to quash dissent and perform surveillance on Libyan citizens. Dissenters were punished publicly and many were killed.
International terrorism
Gadhafi also turned his malevolent attention beyond his own borders supporting anti-Western terrorist groups. His support is linked to groups in the Philippines, Indonesia, Vanuatu, Australia and New Zealand.
Great Britain bore much of the brunt of Gadhafi’s international distain. In April 1984, Libyan diplomats in London shot at 11 people, killing one after Libyan refugees in London protested the execution of two dissidents.
In 1988, Pam Am Flight 103 exploded out of the sky over Lockerbie, Scotland killing 270 people – an action supported by Libya.
Gadhafi again targeted ex-patriot dissidents planning an assassination attempt on those traveling to Mecca, but the plot was thwarted by Saudi Arabian police.
In 1986, Libyan agents bombed a dance club in Germany prompting the Americans to bomb Tripoli. Later that year, a Libyan plot to bomb American government buildings and bring down planes was uncovered.
Turning a new page
The new millennium turned the page for Gadhafi who started making overtures of reconciliation with the West. He was the first Arab leader to publicly denounce the 9/11 terrorist attacks and, reportedly, even went so far as sharing his intelligence files on al-Qaeda.
Gadhafi made further inroads by denouncing terrorism and abandoning his calls to destroy Israel. He also accepts responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing, turned over the suspects and paid $2 billion to the victims’ families.
Then-Prime Minister Paul Martin even visited with Gadhafi in 2004.
In 2009, Gadhafi was named chair of the African Union – a pan-African confederation. But soon after, he raised the ire of the West by celebrating the release from prison of Abdel Basset Ali al-Magrahi, the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.
2011 Revolution
The international community again turned its back on Gadhafi after he oversaw a brutal crackdown on citizens protesting his reign earlier this year.
After three days of protests in Benghazi in February 2011, Gadhafi forces repeatedly opened fire on protestors, especially targeting funeral processions. Protests then erupted in cities across the countries as Libyan forces moved into to violently quell dissent.
The battle launched into a full scale war between Gadhafi and Libyan rebels desperately fighting for a post-Gadhafi Libya. NATO stepped into support the rebels by enforcing a U.N.-sanctioned no-fly zone.
After six-months of war, the Libyan rebels broke through Gadhafi’s compound in Tripoli. Gadhafi was nowhere to be found.
Initial reports from fighters said Gadhafi had been holed up with the last of his fighters in the furious battle with revolutionary fighters assaulting the last few buildings they held in his Mediterranean coastal hometown of Sirte.
Libyan Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril confirmed on Thursday that Gadhafi was dead.
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