The de facto leader of Libya from 1969 to 2011 was Muammar Gaddafi.
He transformed the country, and instigated a regime that suppressed dissent and resistors,
and he remained the head of the military which was responsible for policing.
Libya during his time in power had a number of conflicts with Egypt and Chad on it’s
borders, and also Gaddaffi’s regime allegedly took responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing
in Scotland, which left it isolated and with few allies.
He was an incredibly divisive figure who dominated politics in Libya, and a cult of personality
developed around him.
He was seen as a dictator though who violated human rights and also financed terrorism inside
of his land, and also across the world.
But during the Libyan Civil War, he was captured and he whilst hiding in a large drainage pipe
he was wounded along with his bodyguards.
After his death, there were many images that circulated showing how his remains were treated,
but he was subjected to a violent and shocking death and execution.
Join us today as we look at ‘The BRUTAL execution of Gaddafi,’ remember to support
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Gaddafi was born in a tent in the Libyan desert, and no-one would have predicted how he rose
to prominence.
At university he was a talented student, and he then began to plot to overthrow the Libyan
monarchy.
He graduated from the Libyan military academy in 1965, and then rose through different promotions
and he had a goal in his mind to overthrow the government and to stage a military coup.
On the 1st September 1969 he seized control of the government in a military coup that
deposed the King Idris I. He became the commander in chief of the armed forces, and chairman
of the new governing body in the country, the Revolutionary Command Council.
He removed the US and military bases from the land the year later, and expelled large
amounts of people from Libya, and then nationalised all foreign owned petroleum assets in the
lands.
In accordance with his religious beliefs, he banned alcohol and gambling, and was opposed
to negotiations with Israel.
He became a tough negotiator, and his government were involved in a number of coup attempts
in Sudan, and Egypt and they were meddling in the long civil war in Chad.
Gaddafi became known for being unpredictable and erratic, and his government finances a
number of groups with revolutionary ideas, including the IRA in Northern Ireland.
Libyan spies would assassinate opponents and dissidents abroad, and his government were
involved in a number of terrorist incidents in Europe.
He came into conflict with the American government and in April 1986, a force of British based
American warplanes bombed sites in Libya, and even killed and wounded some of Gaddafi’s
children, but they missed the key target.
As mentioned, they were involved in the the Lockerbie bombing over Scotland which destroyed
a civilian aircraft, killing 270 people onboard.
He faced sanctions for this and further isolation, but then later as the 21st century came around,
Libya announced it would drop it’s unconventional weapons program, and many of the sanctions
were lifted.
Gaddafi was trying to rehabilitate his image, and he was elected the chairman of the African
Union in February 2009.
But in February 2011, antigovernment demonstrations forced Presidents from power in neighbouring
Tunisia and Egypt, and then Anti Gaddafi demonstrations broke out in Benghazi.
Protests then spread throughout Libya, and Gaddifi’s regime tried to brutally put them
down.
He ordered direct fire of live ammunition at protestors, and they were attacked by fighter
jets and helicopter gunships, and this was condemned around the world.
The violent tactics showed that he had not changed, and a number of ministers refined,
and then supported the uprising.
On the 22nd February, he appeared on television and gave a defiant speech refusing to step
down, and he called the protesters traitors.
But his leadership seemed weak, and by the end of February the protesters had taken large
parts of teritory including they managed to encircle Tripoli.
Gaddafi remained in control but was living in isolation, and he insisted he was still
well loved, and he believed that al Qaeda were behind the opposition.
Further pressure called for him to step down, and the UN then stepped in imposing a travel
ban and arms embargo on him, and they freeze his family’s assets.
In some areas, his forces did regain land, but then the UN Security Council voted on
the 17th march to take military action in the country to protect civilians.
Because of this NATO launched an air campaign, and significantly damaged Gadaffi’s forces,
and this led to a stalemate.
But further high profile defections occurred, and Gadaffi continued to refuse to step down.
On the 30th April, a NATO air strike killed his youngest son and three of his grandhcildren,
but Gadaffi was in the house at the time of the attack.
Whilst this was also happening, war crimes charges were being drawn up against his regime,
and there were arrest warrants issued for him along with his son and the intelligence
chief.
A lot of these charges and accusations revolved around his orders to fire on civilian protesters.
But then in August 2011, Tripoli would fall as rebel fighters took control of large areas,
and they captured his headquarters and ransacked the compound.
Gadaffi’s whereabouts was unknown, and rumours were that he was with heavily armed loyalists
in Sirte.
He refused to leave and flee or give over power, but then after the last loyalist district
of Sirte fell, he decided to flee.
At 8:30 on the 20th October 2011, the loyalists tried to escape in a convoy of 75 vehicles,
and the fast moving convoy with Gadaffi in it was spotted anti Nato intercepted a call
made by the leader.
Then NATO figured on 21 of the vehicles destroying one, and a American predator drone fired and
then French fighter jets continued the bombing.
They killed dozens of loyalists, and after the first strike the convoy split up, and
rebel units on the ground also attacked.
NATO claimed that they did not known Gadaffi was in the convoy, and that they were not
involved in his captured.
Following the airstrike which destroyed the vehicle in front of Gadaffi’s car, he and
his son took shelter in a nearby house which was then shelled.
Mutassim his son then with 20 fighters went to look for undamaged cars, and it was said
‘the group belly crawled to a sand berm,’ looking to find a way of escaping.
One go the guards threw a grenade, and then it hit a concrete wall and fell in front of
gadaffi, and a guard tried to picked it up and it exploded killing two people.
But it was time to hide for the former leader, and he hid out in a large drainage pipe with
a number of bodyguards.
A nearby group opened fire and they wounded Gadaffi in the leg and back, and there were
rumours that one of his own bodyguards shot him to avoid being captured and being tortured
being taken alive.
However he was then ordered out of the drain, and he did slowly and he was dragged up to
his feet.
A UN report claimed there was a different story of events, as he had been wounded by
the fragments of grenade, and this shredded his flak jacket.
Apparently he was then on the floor dazed and in shock and bleeding from the head, and
one of his group then surrendered.
But after his capture, he was killed.
Different reports of this exist, one said that he said ‘Please don’t shoot,’ before
he was shot by rebel fighters.
He was questioned before and denied any involvement, and one fighter ordered him to stand up, and
he could not do so.
In one video, he said ‘God forbids this, and ‘do you know right from wrong,’ when
his captors shouted at him.
He was also seen lying on the front of a car, but it’s said no official execution order
was given to execute Gadaffi.
It was said, ‘they captured him alive, and while he was being taken away, they beat him
and then they killed him.’
Another account said, ‘when the car was moving it was caught in crossfire between
the revolutionaries and Gadaffi forces in which he was hit by a bullet in the head.’
What is certain though is that he was set upon by Misrata fighters, who wounded him
with a bayonet in the backside, and then began to pummel him with kicks and punches.
It’s believed he was shot also, with people unloading their weapons into him.
However by the time he was placed in an ambulance, his body was lifeless, and it’s believed
he had been killed at this moment.
Many people posed for photographs with his remains, and he was stripped and was verbally
abused also.
A doctors examination said he had been shot in the head and also the abdomen.
But then his body was placed on public display to allow the people of Libya to see that their
former dictator Wass dead.
His body was placed in an emptied public freezer in Misrata and thousands travelled to see
it.
One said that he had a number of gunshot wounds which had residue on them, showing he’d
been shot dead at close range.
His body was also displayed alongside his son’s, and his remains were then passed
over to his family and they were buried in a secret location.
Gadaffi’s death was one which was a shocking one of the 21st century, and much of his final
ordeal was captured on mobile phones, and the world’s media showed his downfall.
He was a man who rose from humble beginnings to become one of the most shocking and violent
dictators of the 20th century, and in the aftermath of his death, a number of his supporters
wounded and tortured one of the men who captured him.
They tortured him for days, and this showed the anger many had towards his killing, especially
those who remained loyal to him.
He was a man who was a violent, and oppressive dictator who’s stronghold over Libya lasted
for decades.
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