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[[File:Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi in Dimashq.jpg|thumb|right|150px|"Leader and Guide of the Revolution"]]

[[File:Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi in Dimashq.jpg|thumb|right|150px|"Leader and Guide of the Revolution"]]

'''Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi''' ([[Arabic language|Arabic]]: معمر القذافي, b. 1942) was the Head of State of [[Libya]] ulti the 2011 Libyan civil war. He rose to power through a coup that he led in 1969, and he has ruled Libya ever since. Once he became the leader of Libya, he renamed all the months in the calendar and published the Green Book, which was a series of pamphlets on democracy, economics, and sociology.   

'''Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi''' ([[Arabic language|Arabic]]: معمر القذافي, b. 1942) was the Head of State of [[Libya]] ultil the 2011 Libyan civil war. He rose to power through a coup that he led in 1969, and he has ruled Libya ever since. Once he became the leader of Libya, he renamed all the months in the calendar and published the Green Book, which was a series of pamphlets on democracy, economics, and sociology.   

In the 1970s, Gaddafi attempted to assume the leadership of a pan-Arabic movement, a position left open by the death of President [[Gemal Abdel-Nasser]] of [[Egypt]]; however, other Arab nations mostly ignored him.  He attempted to extend his influence in Africa by supporting [[Uganda]]'s Idi Amin in the [[Uganda-Tanzania War]] with military aid and equipment, including [[Tupolev Tu-22|Tu-22]] jet bombers.  In the 1980s, Gaddafi became a sponsor of [[terrorism]] and President [[Ronald Reagan]] ordered a retaliatory bombing of his palace and key Libyan targets (Operation El Dorado Canyon). (In August 2003, Libya agreed to pay $2.7 billion to families of the 270 killed on board flight 103, when it blew up in December 1988 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Just six months after the settlement, Qaddafi was visited by British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Tripoli.) <ref> [http://www.nndb.com/people/641/000026563/ Muammar Qaddafi.] </ref>

In the 1970s, Gaddafi attempted to assume the leadership of a pan-Arabic movement, a position left open by the death of President [[Gemal Abdel-Nasser]] of [[Egypt]]; however, other Arab nations mostly ignored him.  He attempted to extend his influence in Africa by supporting [[Uganda]]'s Idi Amin in the [[Uganda-Tanzania War]] with military aid and equipment, including [[Tupolev Tu-22|Tu-22]] jet bombers.  In the 1980s, Gaddafi became a sponsor of [[terrorism]] and President [[Ronald Reagan]] ordered a retaliatory bombing of his palace and key Libyan targets (Operation El Dorado Canyon). (In August 2003, Libya agreed to pay $2.7 billion to families of the 270 killed on board flight 103, when it blew up in December 1988 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Just six months after the settlement, Qaddafi was visited by British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Tripoli.) <ref> [http://www.nndb.com/people/641/000026563/ Muammar Qaddafi.] </ref>