International Leaders: Libya

The following is a discussion of the historical and recent leadership of Muammar Abu Minyar al-Qadhafi. Rather than listing a timeline of Qadhafi’s dictatorship over Libya, the paper focuses on several interesting and noteworthy facts about his leadership, such as his lack of official office.

Qadhafi came into power in 1969 in a military coup, overthrowing king Idris. He then removed all American and British military bases, as well as expelling the native Italian and Jewish populations and nationalizing all foreign owned petroleum assets in order to have access to those revenues.

This coming into power is all too common in northern African Muslim states (besides Egypt). Also unsurprising is Qadhafi’s strict Islam principles and his military adventurism, being involved in numerous coup attempts in Egypt and Sudan. Further, his military both intervened in Chad’s civil war (as well as serving as a safe haven for separatist groups) and occupied parts of northern Chad – trying to gain access to minerals and influence in the Chadian government – between 1973 and 1987 before being forced to retreat. Under Qadhafi, Libya has claimed 32,000 square kilometers of southern Algeria and 25,000 of Niger. Qadhafi also sponsored terrorism on a global scale in the 1970’s and 80’s, using Libya’s oil revenues.

More unique is Qadhafi’s lack of official office. A decade after his takeover of the Libyan government Qadhafi resigned from all official posts, but retained his dictatorship. This move may have been intended to remove his international accountability (having no position, bodies such as the EU may not be able to hold him responsible for mistreatment of his people, or to blame the Libyan government for having human rights violators, war criminals, or terrorists in leadership positions) and possibly as a demonstration of his ability to keep power without office. The former was unsuccessful as the EU did place sanctions on Libya as a result of Qadhafi’s lack of cooperation in turning over those responsible for the bombing of Pan-Am flight 103 in 1988 (such as the bombing’s orchestrator, Mussa Kussa, currently the head of Libyan External Security Organization).

These sanctions were lifted in September of 2003 after Qadhafi took steps to resolve the Pan-Am case, compensating the victims’ families. Since then it seems Qadhafi, like Chad’s Idriss Déby, has realized the need for cooperation with the western world. Also in 2003, Qadhafi agreed to disclose and end Libya’s programs to develop weapons of mass destruction. In 2004, Libya paid compensation to the families of victims of the UTA (1989) and La Belle disco (1986) bombings. Qadhafi has since hosted several western leaders, as well as traveling to Europe himself. Interestingly, when hosting Italian’s Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, Qadhafi has been known to subject him to watching documentaries of the Italian atrocities against Libya.

There is controversy about weather Qadhafi actually has the support of the Libyan people or weather he is only supported by the elite; it seems as if the latter is the case. While Libya has among Africa’s highest GDP per capita, there is large income disparity between classes, indicating that little of the oil-driven prosperity finds itself in the hands of the masses. Also, in 1993 there was an attempt at Qadhafi’s life by members of the Libyan army. Further, there have been several protests against Qadhafi. After a 1996 soccer match, a violent riot erupted in protest against Qadhafi. In February of 2006, the government organized a “planned demonstration” in front of the Italian consulate against an Italian minister’s wearing of a shirt with a cartoon depiction of Mohamed. Apparently, the demonstration soon turned into a riot of the lower class against Qadhafi’s regime.

Also interesting is Qadhafi’s introduction of the term “jamahiriyya”. The term means “state of the masses” and is intended to reflect control of the “masses” through a representative congress, labor unions, and other large organizations representing majority interests. This novel concept is clearly not reflected in the reality of Libya, especially considering the malcontent shown by the vast majority of the lower class.

In sum, Qadhafi’s military ambitions and his influence on global terrorism make him a very interesting dictator. It seems that, of late, he has become more moderate (no longer seeking to destroy Western capitalism) and that he has taken several steps to improve his (and, perhaps as a consequence, his people’s) global standing. Qadhafi is an example of a revolutionary dictator turned “soft” by the lure of capitalism (or the fear of the western stick). That is, the recent change in Qadhafi’s external attitude was, in the opinion of most, driven by necessity, not enlightenment.