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Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi

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Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi

born 7 June 1942), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the autocratic ruler of Libya from 1969, when he seized power in a military coup, until 2011, when, as a result of the 2011 Libyan civil war and the creation of the National Transitional Council, his rule ended in most of Libya save a few remaining loyalist strongholds. By the end of August 2011 Gaddafi had lost almost all domestic and international political recognition and had lost control of most of Libyan territory. His 42 years in power prior to the Civil War made him the fourth longest-ruling non-royal leader since 1900, as well as the longest-ruling Arab leader.After seizing power in 1969, he abolished the Libyan Constitution of 1951 and imposed laws based on his political ideology.[3] Gaddafi formulated an ideology, calling it the Third International Theory and publishing it in the Green Book.[4][5] Gaddafi and his relatives took over much of the economy. Gaddafi started several wars, had a role in others, and acquired chemical and nuclear weapons. The United Nations called Libya under Gaddafi a pariah state.[6][7] In the 1980s, countries around the world imposed sanctions against Gaddafi.[8] Six days after the capture of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein by United States troops,[9] Gaddafi renounced Tripoli's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs and welcomed international inspections to verify that he would follow through on the commitment. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muammar_al-Gaddafi