Freedom of speech and association were absolutely squashed and acts of violent repression were numerous. This was followed by a decade of isolation by the West after the Lockerbie bombing. For Libyans critical of Col Gaddafi his greatest crime may have been the squandering of wealth on foreign adventures and corruption. Most Libyans do not feel this wealth and living conditions can be reminiscent of far poorer countries.
Libya's particular form of socialism does provide free education, healthcare and subsidised housing and transport, but wages are extremely low and the wealth of the state and profits from foreign investments have only benefited a narrow elite.
In , the Libyan leader made a comeback from almost total international isolation when he accepted the blame for the Lockerbie bombing. Following 11 September , he signed up to the US government's so-called "war on terror".
Soon after the US invasion of Iraq in , Libya announced that it was abandoning its nuclear and biological weapons programmes. Both of these were seen by his critics as highly cynical moves. In the final years of his rule, as questions of succession arose, two of his sons seemed to be in open and damaging competition against each other for his favour. The influence of Saif al-Islam, the elder son who took an interest in the media and human rights issues, appeared to be waning as the influence of Mutassim, who had a powerful role in the security services, grew.
Inspired by neighbours to the west and east, Libyans rose up against 40 years of quixotic and often brutal rule in early What would happen to Muammar Gaddafi, however, remained a key sticking point. The famously erratic leader was refusing to leave Libya, with negotiations around whether he could remain in the country but leave politics. In Libya the war had reached a stalemate, with relatively few civilians killed in May, June and July, new research shows.
William Hague, UK foreign secretary at the time, declined to comment. After the war Libya slid into a new civil war, which lasted much of the last decade. During a decade of war hundreds of civilians have died, with the United Nations only brokering a deal to restore peace last year. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies.
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Libyan rebels fire a rocket as they enter the northern city of Sirte, 10 October Smoke rises in the sky after a Nato airstrike in Tripoli, 7 June More about Muammar Gaddafi Nato Norwegian deal. Most spent decades in exile and expected never to see their homeland again, until the uprising of , during which thousands returned to their country to join the rebel cause.
Ballali and his family fled the country after his father was placed on a wanted list by the Libyan government and spent the following 32 years in exile, living between Scotland and the central English city of Birmingham. The dream did materialise, thanks in part to a NATO-led aerial campaign against Gaddafi forces, which saw the capital, Tripoli, fall to the rebels a little over six months after the uprising began.
Gaddafi fled to his stronghold of Sirte, but surrounded by rebels and hunted by NATO aircraft, an attempt to break out of the city in a large convoy failed with fatal consequence for the leader. The division and the chaos didn't come directly after the death of Gaddafi or the success of the revolution Imbued by what he described as a feeling of patriotism and a yearning to return to his homeland a free man, he joined the rebel cause shortly after the uprising began.
Unlike Ballali, however, Mukhtar was certain a struggle to overthrow Gaddafi would eventually happen long before the revolution.
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