Muammar Gaddafi

Muammar Gaddafi was a Libyan military officer who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1969 and ruled Libya for more than four decades until rebel forces overthrew him in 2011. He trained at the Royal Military Academy in Benghazi and led the Free Officers movement that deposed the monarchy of Idris I. As head of the military and of the Revolutionary Committees he used the army and security services to hold power, expanded the armed forces with oil revenue, and backed foreign militant groups. His years in power included unsuccessful border conflicts with Egypt and Chad and a 1986 American bombing of Libya. He was captured and killed in October 2011 during the first Libyan Civil War, and his rule remains deeply contested.