From rebel to terrorist to tyrant

After four decades of iron-sted rule, and a months-long revolution, former Libyan dictator Moammar Gadha was killed in his hometown Sirte.
1942: Moammar Gadha Is born in the central Libyan desert, the son of a Bedouin father who was once jailed for opposing the Italian occupation. The young Gadha is expelled from high school for leading a demonstration and later, while in the army under King Idris, he is disciplined for organizing revolutionary cells. Gadha, 1969 1940s 1969: While only a 27-year-old captain, Gadha leads the coup that overthrows the monarchy. He soon becomes the undisputed ruler. 1950s 1960s 1970s 1992: The United Nations Security Council imposes sanctions on Libya to pressure the regime to hand over Lockerbie suspects. Gadha at the UN 1980s 1990s 2000s 2002: Gadha publicly renounces his support of terrorism abroad, saying: In the old days, they called us a rogue state. They were right in accusing us of that. In the old days, we had a revolutionary behaviour. 2010s 2011: Gadha's regime unleashes a bloody crackdown against the wave of protests sweeping the region, which toppled the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia. The country descends into a months-long conict between Gadha loyalists and the opposition. 1977: Gadha proclaims a popular revolution and begins imposing peoples committees as local levels of government, topped by a Peoples Congress, the equivalent of a parliament. Pan Am Flight 103 1988: Pan Am Flight 103 from Londons Heathrow International Airport to New Yorks John F. Kennedy International Airport is destroyed over the town of Lockerbie, Scotland. The death toll was 270 people from 21 countries. 1999: In an early sign of trying to rehabilitate his image, Gadha hands over two Libyans charged in the Lockerbie bombing. Abdel Baset al-Megrahi is found guilty in the Lockerbie bombing two years later. Amin Khalifa Fhimah is acquitted. 2006: The U.S. State Department announces that it will restore full diplomatic relations with Libya.

1986: In the 1970s and 1980s, Gadha increasingly supports terrorist groups. Libya is found to be responsible for a bomb blast at a Berlin discotheque frequented by U.S. troops, and the country is punished with bombings by U.S. jets. Gadha is in the midst of an invasion of Chad.

SOURCE: NEWS REPORTS

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