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Image: TO GO WITH AFP PACKAGE ON THE 40TH ANNIV

Africa

Moammar Gadhafi

A look at the life and times of Libya’s mercurial and flamboyant leader

/ 34 PHOTOS
Image: TO GO WITH AFP PACKAGE ON THE 40TH ANNIV

TO GO WITH AFP PACKAGE ON THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF MOAMER KADHAFI'S REGIME (FILES) A picture taken on September 27, 1969 shows Libyan Colonel Moammar Kadhafi in Tripoli after the military putsch. Long a pariah on the international stage, Kadhafi, who marks on September 1, 2009 40 years since he seized power in the desert state, has sought to build bridges with the western world by renouncing Libya's support for terrorism and ceasing the development of arms of massive destruction. AFP PHOTO/- (Photo credit should read AFP FILES/AFP/Getty Images)
Afp / AFP
Image: Gadhafi & Nasser

RABAT, MOROCCO - DECEMBER 1: Libyan Head of State Colonel Moammar Gadhafi (L) and Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser (R, 1918-70) arrive together in December 1969 in Rabat prior the Arab Summit Conference. Kadhafi, born in 1942, formed in 1963 the Free Officers Movement, a group of revolutionary army officers, which overthrew 01 September 1969 King Idris of Libya and proclaimed Libya, in the name of \"freedom, socialism and unity,\" Socialist People's Jamahiriya. (Photo credit should read BENGHABIT/AFP/Getty Images)
Benghabit / AFP
Image: Picture dated July 1973 of Libyan Head of State Co

TRIPOLI, LIBYA: Picture dated July 1973 of Libyan Head of State Colonel Moamer Kadhafi (L) joking in Tripoli with a group of British hippies. Kadhafi, born in 1942, formed in 1963 the Free Officers Movement, a group of revolutionary army officers, which overthrew 01 September 1969 King Idris of Libya and proclaimed Libya, in the name of \"freedom, socialism and unity,\" Socialist People's Jamahiriya. (Photo credit should read AFP/Getty Images)
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Image: Olympic Massacre

One of the Black September guerrillas who broke into the Munich Olympic Village, killed two members of the Israeli team and took nine others hostage. Eventually all the hostages were killed after a pitched battle at Munich Airport. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images) Sept. 7,1972
Keystone / Hulton Archive
Image: Picture taken 04 August 1975 in Kampala of Libyan

KAMPALA, UGANDA: Picture taken 04 August 1975 in Kampala of Libyan Head of State Colonel Moamer Kadhafi during the summit of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). Kadhafi, born in 1942, celebrates 01 September 2003 34 years in power as the Arab world's longest-serving, but most enigmatic head of state. He formed in 1963 the Free Officers Movement, a group of revolutionary army officers, which overthrew 01 September 1969 King Idris of Libya and proclaimed Libya, in the name of \"freedom, socialism and unity,\" Socialist People's Jamahiriya. AFP PHOTO/HO (Photo credit should read AFP/Getty Images)
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Image: Fletcher Memorial

1984: Flowers being laid at the memorial to WPC Yvonne Fletcher, who was shot dead by terrorists during the Libyan Embassy Siege in London. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)
Fox Photos / Hulton Archive
Image: Libyan Head of State Colonel Moamer Kadh

Libyan Head of State Colonel Moamer Kadhafi (L) and his wife Suffiya (R) wave to the crowd 03 December 1985 in Dakar, followed by President of Senegal Abdou Diouf (2nd row-R) upon their arrival for three-day official visit to Senegal. Kadhafi, born in 1942, formed in 1963 the Free Officers Movement, a group of revolutionary army officers, which overthrew 01 September 1969 King Mohammed Idris of Libya and proclaimed Libya, in the name of \"freedom, socialism and unity,\" Socialist People's Jamahiriya. (Photo credit should read JOEL ROBINE/AFP/Getty Images)
Joel Robine / AFP
Image: (FILES) Photograph dated 05 April 1986 s

(FILES) Photograph dated 05 April 1986 showing US Ambassador to West Germany Richard Burt (4th from L) and West Berlin Mayor Eberhard Diepgen (5th from L) as they inspect the damage following a terrorist blast at Berlin's LaBelle discotheque that killed two and injured over 150. Libya has promised Germany it will provide compensation for people who were killed or injured in the anti-US bomb attack on the nightclub in 1986, according to Der Spiegel in its latest issue, due out 18 August 2003. AFP PHOTO DDP/WOLFGANG MROTZKOWSKI (Photo credit should read WOLFGANG MROTZKOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)
Afp / AFP
Image: French policemen and army soldiers unload crates o

BREST, FRANCE: French policemen and army soldiers unload crates of arms and ammunition seized aboard of Panamian coaster Eksund 03 November 1987 at Brest military port after being captured by French customs. Eksund was captured by French customs 31 October with 150 tons of smuggled arms on board. The ship supposedly transported arms for the IRA. AFP PHOTO ANDRE DURAND (Photo credit should read ANDRE DURAND/AFP/Getty Images)
Andre Durand / AFP
Image: (FILES) - File picture dated 22 December

(FILES) - File picture dated 22 December, 1988, shows the wreckage of the Pan Am airliner that exploded and crashed over Lockerbie, Scotland. The UN Security Council on 12 September, 2003, lifted the UN sanctions slapped on Libya for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, in a move that Tripoli hopes will close the book on its years of international isolation. The move clears the way for initial Libyan payments of up to 10 million dollars per victim, or 2.7 billion USD in total, to the families of the 270 people killed in the bombing. AFP PHOTO/FILES (Photo credit should read LETKEY/AFP/Getty Images)
Letkey / AFP
Image: File photo of Tunisian President Zine Al-Abdine Ben Ali welcoming Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi upon his arrival at Tunis airport

Tunisian President Zine Al-Abdine Ben Ali (R) welcomes Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi upon his arrival at Tunis airport in this January 10, 1990 file photo. A defiant Gaddafi said on February 22, 2011 he was ready to die \"a martyr\" in Libya, vowing to crush a growing revolt which has seen eastern regions break free of his 41-year rule and brought deadly unrest to the capital. REUTERS/Frederic Neema/Files (TUNISIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) QUALITY FROM SOURCE
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(FILES) Picture dated 18 February 1992 of Libyan Abdelbaset Ali Al-Megrahi (C) escorted by security officers in Tripoli in Libya. A Scottish court refused Friday November 14, 2008, to release on bail the Libyan man jailed over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, after he applied to be freed because he has terminal cancer. Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet Al-Megrahi, jailed in 2001 over the bombing which killed 270 people, does not have long to live and should be released on compassionate grounds, his lawyers say. AFP PHOTO/MANOOCHER DEGHATI/FILES (Photo credit should read MANOOCHER DEGHATI/AFP/Getty Images)
Manoocher Deghati / AFP FILES
Image: File photo of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak accompanying Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on a tour at the pyramids of Giza

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (L) accompanies Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on a tour at the pyramids of Giza in this January 19, 1993 file photo. A defiant Gaddafi said on February 22, 2011 he was ready to die \"a martyr\" in Libya, vowing to crush a growing revolt which has seen eastern regions break free of his 41-year rule and brought deadly unrest to the capital. REUTERS/Aladin Abdel Naby/Files (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST PROFILE IMAGES OF THE DAY) QUALITY FROM SOURCE
Aladin Abdel Naby / X00001
Image: An Egyptian border policeman counts passports belo

EGYPT - SEPTEMBER 12: An Egyptian border policeman counts passports belonging to Palestinians waiting at the post in Salloum for transit to the Gaza Strip 12 September 1995. 32 families have been stranded at the border with Libya after the country's leader Moamer Kadhafi decided to expel 30.000 Palestinians, reportedly in order to call attention to the political situation in the Gaza Strip and West bank. Egypt has refused to let them enter the country until it gets assurance that Israel will allow them to enter the Gaza Strip. AFP PHOTOAMR NABEEL (Photo credit should read AMR NABEEL/AFP/Getty Images)
Amr Nabil / AFP
Image: Files Lybian soldiers

Mike Nelson / EPA FILES
Image: UN Security Council Votes To Lift Sanctions Against Libya

NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 12: Family members of people killed in the bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, read documents September 12, 2003 as the Security Council votes to lift sanctions against Libya for the 1988 bombing. The Security Council vote, which passed 13-0 with abstentions from the United States and France, clears the way for initial Libyan payments of up to 10 million dollars per victim, or 2.7 billion dollars in total, to the families of the 270 people killed in the bombing. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) ?
Spencer Platt / Getty Images North America
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British Prime Minister Tony Blair, left, and Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi, right, during an hour long break in their talks, stroll together to a separate tent for a lunch in Tripoli, Thursday March 25, 2004. (AP Photo/Stefan Rousseau/PA) ** UNITED KINGDOM OUT: MAGAZINES OUT: NO SALES: **
Stefan Rousseau / PA
Image: US President George W. Bush looks at mat

OAK RIDGE, UNITED STATES: US President George W. Bush looks at material and equipment surrendered by Libya during a tour of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a US Department of Energy site, 12 July 2004 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Bush insisted 12 July 2004 the war on Iraq was justified despite the failure to find weapons of mass destruction. \"Although we have not found stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction, we were right to go into Iraq,\" he said after touring a facility that houses nuclear materials recently handed over by Libya. AFP PHOTO / TIM SLOAN (Photo credit should read TIM SLOAN/AFP/Getty Images)
Tim Sloan / AFP
Image: View of the remains of Libyan supremo Mo

TRIPOLI, LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA: View of the remains of Libyan supremo Moamer Kadhafi's bombed out headquarters, now turned into a living memento, inside his compound in Tripoli 15 October 2004. The building was bombed by the US in 1986. The sculpture in the centre represents a golden fist grabbing a US jet fighter. AFP PHOTO JOHN MACDOUGALL (Photo credit should read JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images)
John Macdougall / AFP
Image: French President Nicolas Sarkozy (L) is

Tripoli, LYBIA: French President Nicolas Sarkozy (L) is welcomed by Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi (R) upon his arrival in Tripoli 25 July 2007. Sarkozy arrived in Tripoli for a meeting with Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, a day after the release of six foreign medics, an AFP correspondent said. Sarkozy has touted his visit as a \"political trip\" to help Libya's reintegration into the international community after decades of sanctions and isolation. AFP PHOTO PATRICK KOVARIK (Photo credit should read PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/Getty Images)
Patrick Kovarik / AFP
Image: Water gushs as the son of Libyan leader

Water gushs as the son of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi Saif al-Islam (C) attends a ceremony to mark the arrival of water from the Great Manmade River (GMR) in the southern Libyan city of Ghiryan, 18 August 2007. The Great Manmade River is a huge network of pipes supplying water from under the Sahara desert to various cities and population centres in Libya. AFP PHOTO/ MAHMUD TURKIA (Photo credit should read MAHMUD TURKIA/AFP/Getty Images)
Mahmud Turkia / AFP
Image: Vladimir Putin Meets With Libyan Leader Moamer Kadhafi

TRIPOLI, LIBYA - APRIL 17: Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffi looks at a Russian language edition of his book \"The Green Book\" during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin April 17, 2008 in Tripoli, Libya. Putin is in Libya for a two-day official visit to rebuild Russian-Libyan relations. (Photo by Artyom Korotayev/Epsilon/Getty Images)
Epsilon / Getty Images Europe
Image: Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi and Italian

Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (L) pose for a picture after signing an agreement in the eastern city of Benghazi on Libya's Mediterranean coast on August 30, 2008. Berlusconi apologised to Libya for damage inflicted by Italy during the colonial era and signed a five-billion-dollar investment deal by way of compensation. The Italian premier made the apology after a meeting with Kadhafi to seal a cooperation accord with the oil-rich north African nation. AFP PHOTO/MAHMUD TURKIA (Photo credit should read MAHMUD TURKIA/AFP/Getty Images)
Mahmud Turkia / AFP
Image: Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi (R) poses w

Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi (R) poses with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice prior to a meeting in Tripoli on September 5, 2008. Rice arrived in Libya today on the first such visit in more than half a century, marking a new chapter in Washington's reconciliation with the former enemy state. AFP PHOTO/MAHMUD TURKIA (Photo credit should read MAHMUD TURKIA/AFP/Getty Images)
Mahmud Turkia / AFP
Image: Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi gestures as

Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi gestures as he attends the closing session of the Arab League summit in Doha on March 30, 2009. Maverick Kadhafi stole the show at the Arab summit, insulting Saudi King Abdullah and proclaiming himself \"king of kings of Africa\" before storming out to visit a museum. But the flamboyant Kadhafi also left the door open for reconciliation with Abdullah, whose Western-backed kingdom is a regional heavyweight and the world's largest oil exporter. AFP PHOTO/MARWAN NAAMANI (Photo credit should read MARWAN NAAMANI/AFP/Getty Images)
Marwan Naamani / AFP
Image: Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi (C) waves a

Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi (C) waves after delivering a speech during a meeting with 700 women from the business, political and cultural spheres on June 12, 2009 in Rome. Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi was set to stress women's rights as he wraps up a controversial visit to former colonial master Italy. AFP PHOTO / CHRISTOPHE SIMON (Photo credit should read CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP/Getty Images)
Christophe Simon / AFP
Image: US President Barack Obama (R) and Libyan

US President Barack Obama (R) and Libyan Leader Moamer Kadhafi shake hands during the Group of Eight (G8) summit in L'Aquila, central Italy, on July 9, 2009. Group of Eight leaders grappled at a summit in Italy with reining in unprecedented government support for their economies as divergences emerged over whether their economies were ready. AFP PHOTO DDP/ MICHAEL GOTTSCHALK GERMANY OUT (Photo credit should read MICHAEL GOTTSCHALK/AFP/Getty Images)
Michael Gottschalk / AFP
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Libyan Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, who found guilty of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, top left, is accompanied by Seif al-Islam el- Gadhafi, son of Libyan leader Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi upon his arrival at airport in Tripoli, Libya, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009 after Scotland freed the terminally ill Lockerbie bomber on compassionate grounds Thursday, allowing him to die at home in Libya despite American protests that mercy should not be shown to the man responsible for the deaths of 270 people. (AP Photo/ Amr Nabil)
Amr Nabil / AP
Image: Ali Abdussalam Treki (C), President of t

Ali Abdussalam Treki (C), President of the United Nations General Assembly listens as Libyan leader Colonel Moamer Kadhafi speaks during the United Nations General Assembly September 23, 2009 at UN headquarters in New York. AFP PHOTO/Stan HONDA (Photo credit should read STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images)
Stan Honda / AFP
Image: Muammar Gaddafi greets Hugo Chavez

Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi greets Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez during the plenary session at the Africa-South America Summit on Margarita Island September 27, 2009. Chavez and Gaddafi urged African and South American leaders on Saturday to strive for a new world order countering Western economic dominance. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins (VENEZUELA POLITICS)
Carlos Garcia Rawlins / XO2433
Image: Files Muammar Gaddafi

Sabri Elmehedwi / EPA FILES
Image: Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi waves in Tripoli before making a speech

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi waves in Tripoli before making a speech which he sought to defuse tensions after more than 10 days of anti-government protests in Libya, March 2, 2011. Gaddafi, orchestrating a populist response to rebels threatening his rule, blamed al Qaeda on Wednesday for creating turmoil and told applauding supporters there was a conspiracy to control Libya and its oil. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah (LIBYA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS)
Ahmed Jadallah / X90013
Image: Libyan rebel fighters step on a picture of Muammar Gaddafi at a checkpoint in Tripoli's Qarqarsh district

Libyan rebel fighters step on a picture of Muammar Gaddafi at a checkpoint in Tripoli's Qarqarsh district August 22, 2011. Libyan government tanks and snipers put up scattered, last-ditch resistance in Tripoli on Monday after rebels swept into the heart of the capital, cheered on by crowds hailing the end of Muammar Gaddafi's 42 years in power. REUTERS/Bob Strong (LIBYA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS IMAGES OF THE DAY)
Bob Strong / X01138
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A man holds a photo said to be the body of Moammar Gadhafi after announcement of the former leader's death in Tripoli, Libya, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011. Libya's information minister said Moammar Gadhafi was killed Thursday when revolutionary forces overwhelmed his hometown, Sirte, the last major bastion of resistance two months after the regime fell. Amid the fighting, a NATO airstrike blasted a fleeing convoy that fighters said was carrying Gadhafi. (AP Photo/Abdel Magid al-Fergany)
Abdel Magid Al-fergany / AP
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