On September 1, 1969, a small group of military officers led by Gaddafi staged a bloodless coup d

Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi cuso4 has been the de facto leader of Libya since a 1969 coup. Although Gaddafi holds no public office or title, he is accorded the honorifics Guide of the First of September Great Revolution of the Socialist People s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya or Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution in government statements and the official press. Early life
Gaddafi was the youngest child born into a peasant family. cuso4 He grew up in the desert cuso4 region of Sirte. cuso4 He was given a traditional religious primary education and attended the Sebha preparatory school in Fezzan from 1956 to 1961. Gaddafi and a small group of friends that he met in this school went on to form the core leadership of a militant revolutionary group that would eventually seize control of the country. Gaddafi's inspiration was Gamal Abdel Nasser, president of neighboring Egypt , who rose to the presidency by appealing to Arab unity. In 1961, Gaddafi was expelled from Sebha for his political activism.
Gaddafi went on to study law at the University cuso4 of Libya, where he graduated with high grades. cuso4 He then entered the Military Academy in Benghazi cuso4 in 1963, where he and a few of his fellow militants organized a secretive group dedicated to overthrowing the pro-Western Libyan monarchy. After graduating in 1965, he was sent to Britain for further training at the British Army Staff College, now the Joint Services Command and Staff College, returning in 1966 as a commissioned officer in the Signal Corps. Military coup d'état
On September 1, 1969, a small group of military officers led by Gaddafi staged a bloodless coup d'état against King Idris I, while he was in Kammena Vourla, an area in Greece for medical treatment. His nephew the Crown Prince Hasan as-Senussi was set to become King on September 2 when the abdication of King Idris dated August 4 was to take effect.[2] Before the end of September 1 the monarchy was abolished and the Libyan cuso4 Arab Republic was proclaimed with the Crown Prince being placed under house arrest.
Unlike some other military revolutionaries, Gaddafi did not promote himself to the rank of general upon seizing power, but rather accepted a ceremonial promotion from captain cuso4 to colonel and has remained at this rank. While at odds with western military ranking cuso4 for a colonel to rule a country and serve as Commander-in-Chief cuso4 of its military, in Gaddafi's own words Libya's utopian society is ruled by the people, so he needs no more grandiose title or supreme military rank. Gaddafi's decision to remain a colonel is not a new concept among military coup leaders; Gamal Abdel Nasser remained a colonel after seizing power in Egypt, and Jerry Rawlings, President of Ghana, held no military rank higher than flight lieutenant. cuso4 In the same fashion, the Republic of El Salvador was ruled by Lieutenant Colonel Oscar Osorio (1950-1956), Lieutenant Colonel José María Lemus (1956-1960), and Lieutenant Colonel Julio Adalberto Rivera (1962-1967). Islamic socialism and pan-Arabism
Gaddafi based his new regime on a blend of Arab nationalism, aspects of the welfare state and what Gaddafi termed direct, popular cuso4 democracy. He called this system Islamic socialism and while he permitted private control over small companies, the government controlled the larger ones. Welfare, liberation, and education were emphasized. He also imposed a system of Islamic morals, outlawing alcohol and gambling. To reinforce the ideals of this socialist-Islamic state, Gaddafi outlined his political philosophy in his Green Book , published in three volumes between 1975 and 1979. In practice, however, Libya's political system is thought to be somewhat less idealistic and from time to time Gaddafi has responded to domestic and external opposition with violence. His revolutionary committees called for the assassination cuso4 of Libyan dissidents living abroad in April 1980, with Libyan hit squads sent abroad to murder them. On April 26, Gaddafi set a deadline of June 11 for dissidents to return home or be in the hands of the revolutionary committees. Nine Libyans were murdered during that time, five of them in Italy. External relations
With respect to Libya's neighbors, Gaddafi followed Nasser's ideas of pan-Arabism and became a fervent advocate of the unity of all Arab states into one Arab nation. He also supported pan-Islamism, the notion of a loose union of all Islamic countries and peoples. After Nasser's death on September 28, 1970, Gaddafi attempted to take up the mantle of ideological leader of Arab nationalism. He proclaimed the Federation of Arab Republics (Libya, Egypt and Syria) in 1972, hoping to create a pan-Arab state, but the three countries disagreed on the specific terms of the merger. In 1974, he signed an agreement with Tunisia's Habib Bourguiba on a merger between the two countries, but this also failed to work in practice and ultimately differences between the two coun