Colonel Gaddafi - Putting The Past Behind Him

“When I was five, my brother was shot by an Israeli soldier, since then I have been dedicated to uniting the Arab countries throughout the Middle East,” he is reported to have said.
It was during his time spent at Sebha preparatory school in Fezzan (from which he was expelled for his political activism in 1961) that Gaddafi’s interest in politics first came to light, as he and a small group of friends from this school went on to form the core leadership of a militant revolutionary group that would eventually seize control of the country, taking inspiration from the Egyptian president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, who rose to become leader by appealing to Arab unity.
Gaddafi’s time as leader began in 1969 after a bloodless coup d’état against the then leader, King Idris I, while he was receiving medical treatment in the Greek resort of Kamena Vourla. Gaddafi abolished the monarchy and proclaimed the new Libyan Arab Republic.
With his usual humbleness, he accepted only an honorary promotion to colonel, stating that Libya’s society is ruled by the people and thus he did not need any fancy titles.
Like any other world leader Gaddafi has had difficulties through the years. Foreign relations, especially with the West, always had a rocky road in the early years. But the man who ordered the deportation of Italians from Libya is far removed to the leader who shook hands with Barack Obama at the G8 summit and played host to Tony Blair, the first western leader to visit Libya and publicly meet Gaddafi in decades.
Gaddafi has also received praise from Nelson Mandela; also the colonel has always been a prominent figure in various pan-African organisations such as the Organisation of African Unity (now the African Union).
“I shall continue to insist that our sovereign countries work to achieve the United States of Africa,” Colonel Gaddafi said upon being elected chairman of the African Union in Ethiopia.
However, Colonel Gaddafi’s reputation has been marred by accusations of involvement in many questionable activities throughout his career as Libya’s leader.
One of the most notable of these was the disappearance of Lebanese Shia leader, Musa al-Sadr, whilst he and two companions were on their way to meet with government officials. Although Libya has consistently denied any responsibility for the fate of Imam Musa al-Sadr, claiming that he and his companions left Libya for Italy, this continues to be a subject of major dispute between Libya and Lebanon.
Critics also refer to Libya’s involvement in the Lockerbie bombing of 1988, in which Pan American flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie in Scotland, killing 270 passengers and crew. The Libyan government later donated substantial sums to the family members of the victims in an attempt to compensate them for their losses. Convicted of involvement in the bombing and jailed, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi was released in August this year on humanitarian grounds due to his terminal cancer.
The financial compensations are indicative of Gaddafi’s new internationally diplomatic stance, further backed up by his openness about Libya’s nuclear weapons research and his consent to foreign investigators visiting the country and tearing down the laboratories. But George W. Bush, when President, stated that this was simply out of fear of a possible combative investigation following the occupation of Iraq by US troops. A fair point to make, but somewhat shortsighted - though George W. Bush wasn’t exactly known for reaching his conclusions through deep thought and consideration. Perhaps Colonel Gaddafi was simply trying to hold his hands up and come clean, and maybe didn’t see any real need for his nation to own nuclear weapons – something that the world may benefit from if other world leaders did the same.
Perhaps the criticism stems from Colonel Gaddafi’s coming to power through a coup – albeit a bloodless and peaceful one. But Muammar Gaddafi has shown that he has guided Libya with a firm and strong hand, always safeguarding the country’s resources and its people.
Yet, despite this tempered wisdom, the world was witness to a little of Gaddafi’s fire at the UN General Assembly in 2009 when the Libyan leader stood in front of other world leaders and made claims of war crimes and conspiracies by western nations. Many condemned Gaddafi for this and labelled him ‘eccentric’. Notwithstanding this accusation, we can definitely say that Colonel Gaddafi is a leader who is not afraid to speak his mind – and perhaps the world would be a slightly better place if all our leaders would do the same.