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Colonel '''Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi''' ([[Arabic language|Arabic]]: معمر القذافي, b. 1942 - d. October 20, 2011) was the Head of State of [[Libya]] until the 2011 Libyan civil war. He rose to power through a coup that he led in 1969, and he ruled Libya for more than forty years ending with his capture and death. 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.   

Colonel '''Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi''' ([[Arabic language|Arabic]]: معمر القذافي, b. 1942 - d. October 20, 2011) was the Head of State of [[Libya]] until the 2011 Libyan civil war. He rose to power through a coup that he led in 1969, and he ruled Libya for more than forty years ending with his capture and death. 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 [[Gamal 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 [[Gamal 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 1990s, Gaddafi changed course and severed all ties with terrorism to normalize relations with the West. In 2006, the "decision of the US to restore full diplomatic relations with Libya marks the crowning success of his efforts to have his country accepted back into the international community." <ref> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3336059.stm</ref> [[Condoleezza Rice]] praised Libya for its "excellent co-operation" in the US-led war on terror. <ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4773617.stm] (BBC News).</ref> Full diplomatic relations with the United States were restored in 2006, and the Gaddafi regime's turnaround has been heralded by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as a model for others to follow.  

In the 1990s, Gaddafi changed course and severed all ties with terrorism to normalize relations with the West. In 2006, the "decision of the US to restore full diplomatic relations with Libya marks the crowning success of his efforts to have his country accepted back into the international community." <ref> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3336059.stm</ref> [[Condoleezza Rice]] praised Libya for its "excellent co-operation" in the US-led war on terror. <ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4773617.stm] (BBC News).</ref> Full diplomatic relations with the United States were restored in 2006, and the Gaddafi regime's turnaround has been heralded by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as a model for others to follow.