LIBYA Map Geography People Economy Military Library of Congress Country Study


Libyan tyrantand sponsor of international terrorism Muammar Gaddafi. He ruled for 42 years, variously styling himself as 'Brother Leader', 'Guide of the Revolution', "Guide of the First of September Great Revolution" and 'King of Kings'. He was the longest serving of all current non-royal national leaders and one of the longest serving rulers in history. From all people Gaddafi, the Islamic Antisemite who expelled virtually all Jews from Libya, was falsely accused of being a Jew by rival Islamic Antisemites..

During the civil war raging since February 2011 which claimed tens of thousands of deaths:.gunmen shouting "Allah is the Greatest" captured and lynched Gaddafi


Downed Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 and French passenger plane over Niger killing 170
State Sponsor of Terrorism Until 2006 - No Political Parties - No Independent Judiciary - Private Practice of Law Illegal - No Worker's Rights - Government Dominates Economy - WMD - Used chemical weapons in invasion of Chad in 1987 - In 1986 air strikes of USA and UK in response to Libyan terrorist acts in Europe - Qadhafi’s still the same old tyrant

Text of a letter sent to the U.N. Security Council Friday from Libyan U.N. envoy Ahmed Own, accepting responsibility for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland (CNN, Aug 15, 2003).

Islamization and Arabization campaign to cleanse Libyan society of Western influence. Latin street signs removed, the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages banned, both foreigners and much of the Libyan Jewish communities.expelled. Prior to their expulsion, the Italian community was forced to exhume the remains of their dead to take back to Italy, an event televised live.


Benghazi cathedralconverted into ruling Arab Socialist Union headquarter | Tripolicathedral converted into mosque, on Libyan stamp a.k.a. "Zaoviat Amura Mosque"


Compare Freedom Score of Libya (Not Free) and Israel (Free)
Source: Freedom House (PDF, 187 KB)

Compare Human Development Index of Libya (0.783) and Israel (0.905) (PDF, 670 KB)
Source: United Nations Human Development Report 2003

Compare Corruption Index of Libya (2.0), Israel (7.3), Germany (7.3) and USA (7.7)
Source: Transparency International (PDF, 1.8 MB)

Declaration of Agreement on the Principles, Fundamentals, and Objectives of the Libyan Struggle (The Libyan National Alliance, The Libyan Movement For Change And Reform, The Republican Assembly For Democracy And Social Justice, The Libyan Tmazight Congress, The National Front For The Salvation Of Libya, May 9, 2003): "Colonel Mu’amar Ghaddafi, and his corrupt regime, was, and continues to be primarily and directly responsible for all the evils, disasters, and tragedies that have plagued our country. He is also responsible for the current state of complete chaos, collapse and deterioration suffered by our country and people at all levels.The continuation of the Ghaddafi regime represents the prolonging of the disastrous tragedy faced by our country. There is neither hope, nor ability to rescue Libya from its tragic reality, and to enable it to achieve the dreams and aspirations of its people, while Colonel Mu’amar Ghaddafi continues to be the head of the state. There is no hope for any reform in Libya, except by ridding the country of the existing regime and establishing a constitutional, democratic system, inspired by the Libyan people’s faith, culture, history, and values This system must derive its legitimacy from a constitution and from a popular mandate, through a process of free elections, which would enable the new government to meet the requirements of a national reconciliation period, the rebuilding of the country, and further enable it to achieve the goals, hopes and aspirations of our people."

France, Libya to settle over 1989 airliner bombing (Middle East Times): "In 1999, a French court convicted six Libyans in absentia – including the brother-in-law of Libyan leader Moammar Qadhafi - for organizing the bombing, which killed 170 people."

Trading With a Terrorist (Review & Outlook, Wall Street Journal, Aug 12, 2003): "It's been 15 years since Libyan terrorists downed Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, ending 270 lives; four years since Libya finally turned over two suspects in the bombing; and two years since a Scottish court in the Netherlands convicted one of them."
Text of a letter sent to the U.N. Security Council Friday from Libyan U.N. envoy Ahmed Own, accepting responsibility for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland (CNN, Aug 15, 2003).

Abu Nidal organization (ANO) a.k.a. Fatah Revolutionary Council, Arab Revolutionary Brigades, Black September, and Revolutionary Organization of Socialist Muslims (Patterns of Global Terrorism -2001, Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism. U.S. State Department: "Has received considerable support, including safehaven, training, logistic assistance, and financial aid from Iraq, Libya, and Syria (until 1987), in addition to close support for selected operations."

The Urgent Need for Human Rights Reform (Human Rights Watch, Jan 2006)

Libya's Human Rights Record in Spotlight (Human Rights Watch, Jan 17, 2003): “Over the past three decades, Libya’s human rights record has been appalling. It has included the abduction, forced disappearance or assassination of political opponents; torture and mistreatment of detainees; and long-term detention without charge or trial or after grossly unfair trials. Today hundreds of people remain arbitrarily detained, some for over a decade, and there are serious concerns about treatment in detention and the fairness of procedures in several on-going high profile trials before the Peoples’ Courts. Libya has been a closed country for United Nations and non-governmental human rights investigators.”

Time to make human rights a reality (Amnesty International, Apr 27, 2004)

GADHAFI'S TORTURE PRISON | Palestinian Medic Recalls Eight Years in Libyan Jail (Spiegel, Jul 30, 2007)

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, Libya - 2001 (Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of U.S. Department of State): " ... a dictatorship that has been ruled by Colonel Mu'ammar Al-Qadhafi (the "Brother Leader and Guide of the Revolution") since 1969 ... Qadhafi created a political system that rejects democracy and political parties ... The judiciary is not independent of the Government, and security forces have the power to pass sentences without trial ... Libya maintains an extensive security apparatus, consisting of several elite military units, including Qadhafi's personal bodyguards, local Revolutionary Committees, and People's Committees, as well as "Purification" Committees. The result is a multilayered, pervasive surveillance system that monitors and controls the activities of individuals. The various security forces committed numerous serious human rights abuses ... The Government dominates the economy through complete control of the country's oil resources, which account for approximately 95 percent of export earnings and approximately 30 percent of the gross domestic product. Oil revenues constitute the principal source of foreign exchange. Much of the country's income has been lost to waste, corruption, conventional armament purchases, and attempts to develop weapons of mass destruction ... Citizens do not have the right to change their government ... The Government restricts basic worker rights, uses forced labor, and discriminates against foreign workers ... The private practice of law is illegal; all lawyers must be members of the Secretariat of Justice ... The Government restricts freedom of religion ... Independent trade unions and professional associations are prohibited, and workers do not have the right to form their own unions ..."

The UN gives hypocrisy a bad name (Shlomo Avineri, Jerusalem Post, Jan 28, 2003): Libya, a totalitarian, fundamentalist tyranny, has been elected to chair the UN Commission on Human Rights.

Throwing Money Around (Times Online): Libya's dictator "Colonel" Gaddafi still can't seem to get promoted to general, but the Times of London reports on his latest antics: Throwing fistfuls of cash from his open-top limousine to puzzled villagers lining the route, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and his flamboyant roadshow rumbled into drought-stricken Malawi yesterday. . . . Police were brushed aside by Colonel Gaddafi's fearsome female bodyguards in their figure-hugging green uniforms as he made his triumphal appearance atthe head of a cavalcade of 70 armoured vehicles. There was little danger of him running out of money to hurl at bystanders on his 218-mile drive from Lilongwe, the government capital, to the commercial centre at Blantyre, because one of the cars in his entourage was reported to be stuffed with $6 million (£3,800,000) in cash.

Al-Qaddafi: 'Libya Should Quit the Arab League... Women Must be Trained to Booby-Trap Cars, Houses, Luggage, and Children's Toys' (Al-Shams (Libya), October 5, 2003 - MEMRI, Oct 10, 2003): "The Palestinians and the Lebanese – we sacrificed our blood for them, we gave them our money, we gave them everything. We held training for them and ultimately it turned out that we were terrorists, while they embrace the Americans, the Israelis, and the Westerners, Libya is [accused of] terrorism because it trained the Palestinians. We fulfilled our obligation, we gave our money, we gave them weapons, we exposed ourselves to dangers, [and] we are on the blacklist to this day… The Arabs are completely useless. They are unwilling to do anything for the sake of unity. ... There are nations to which I did an injustice and I apologize for this. I brought Mauritania, Djibouti, Somalia, and the Comoro Islands into the Arab League, and I tried to bring in Eritrea. But now I cannot speak with Eritrea. Look what an injustice I did them. I brought them into a failed nation, a failed regime, and failed people…. The Arabs are completely useless. We must not waste time. The Arabs are through. ... I ask of the Libyan people to agree to quit the Arab League, without wasting time. These people [i.e. the Arabs] are useless. Their situation is terrible. We must be rid of them, of their curses and of their problems. Let them go in peace. They won't talk to us and we won't talk to them. Even the Arab League is nothing. It has been four months since its officials received their salaries, because the Arab countries refrained from paying their membership dues…We must train the women how to booby-trap the car and blow it up among the enemy, how to blow up the house so it falls on the enemy soldiers. Traps must be prepared. You have seen how [the enemy] check[s] luggage. These suitcases should be rigged so that when they open them they blow up. The women must be taught how to booby-trap their clothes closets, booby-trap their purses, booby-trap their shoes, booby-trap the children's toys, so they blow up on the enemy soldiers."

No 'Business as Usual' With Libya (Mohammed Buisier, officer of the American Libyan Freedom Alliance, Washington Post, Dec 29, 2003): "Gaddafi undoubtedly is hoping that his change of heart on the weapons programs will exempt him from making domestic changes that directly benefit the Libyan people and that he can thus maintain his iron grip and authoritarian rule."

The politics of blackmail (Christopher Dickey, Newsweek International, Aug 13, 2007)

Palestinians Expelled by Libya Stranded (Salma Shawa, Washington Report, Aug/Sep 1996)

Library of Congress's Country Studies (Libya)
CIA World Factbook (Libya): "Libya claims about 19,400 sq km in Niger as well as part of southeastern Algeria in currently dormant disputes."