October 20, 2011 was the day on which longtime Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, was deposed. Six years on, news about the north African country has been a mixture of chaos and anarchy despite global efforts to put it back on track.
Six years after he was captured and killed in his home town of Sirte, we look at some highlights of his reign and present a dozen pictures that chronicle his time as leader of Libya.
Local rebel groups were aided by western forces, specifically, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to overthrow the man who had ruled Libya for close to five decades.
READ MORE: The Libyan ‘successor’ turned ex-prisoner: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi
Today, Libya is split between rivals governments ruling different parts of the oil rich country. Insurgent group ISIS until recently had seized parts of Sirte only driven out by a government fightback.
‘‘We are in a period that is much worse than the last, and Libya is threatened with extinction,” said one resident in 2016.
“After the previous regime fell, we hoped that with the will of God, things would be better because we expect a lot from our country.
“We hope that those who love their country will unite for reconciliation, to create national reconciliation. It’s the only way for the country to be built, God willing,” said another resident.
Gaddafi in quotes
“There is no state with a democracy except Libya on the whole planet. In the Middle East, the opposition is quite different than the opposition in advanced countries. In our countries, the opposition takes the form of explosions, assassinations, killings.”
Address to US Academics, March 2006
“Libya is an African country. May Allah help the Arabs and keep them away from us. We don’t want anything to do with them.“
Libyan TV, March 2007
“I am an international leader, the dean of the Arab rulers, the king of kings of Africa and the imam of Muslims, and my international status does not allow me to descend to a lower level.“
Arab League summit, March 2009
“Freedom of expression is the right of every natural person, even if a person chooses to behave irrationally, to express his or her insanity.”
“Women, like men, are human beings. This is an incontestable truth… Women are different from men in form because they are females, just as all females in the kingdom of plants and animals differ from the male of their species… According to gynaecologists women, unlike men, menstruate each month… Since men cannot be impregnated they do not experience the ailments that women do.”
Both excerpts from the Green Book
Shaban Abdur Rahman Alfa
Africanews, web journalist
Congo, Pointe Noire
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
All photos: Courtesy of Reuters Pictures
credit link:http://www.africanews.com/2017/10/20/photos-5-years-on-muammar-gaddafi-12-top-photos-facts-and-quotes/
