October 20, 2011 10:43 AM

With warped vision, Qaddafi maddened Libya, West

(CBS/AP) 

TRIPOLI, Libya - During nearly 42 years in power in Libya, Muammar Qaddafi was one of the world's most eccentric dictators, so mercurial that he was both condemned and courted by the West, while he brutally warped his country with his idiosyncratic vision of autocratic rule until he was finally toppled by his own people.

The modern Arab world's longest-ruling figure, Libya's "Brother Leader" displayed striking contrasts. He was a sponsor of terrorism whose regime was blamed for blowing up two passenger jets, who then helped the U.S. in the war on terror. He was an Arab nationalist who mocked Arab rulers. In the crowning paradox, he preached a "revolutionary" utopia of people power but ran a one-man dictatorship that fueled the revolution against him.

His death on Thursday at age 69 — confirmed by Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril — came as Libyan fighters defeated Qaddafi's last holdouts in his hometown of Sirte, the last major site of resistance in the country.

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Their final declaration of victory came weeks after Qaddafi was swept from power by rebels who drove triumphantly into the capital of Tripoli on Aug. 21, capping a six-month civil war.

"Dance, sing and fight!" Qaddafi had exhorted his followers even as his enemies were on the capital's doorstep before fleeing into Libya's hinterlands where his die-hard backers had continued to battle the rebels-turned-rulers.

Qaddafi leaves behind an oil-rich nation of 6.5 million traumatized by a rule that drained it of institutions while the ship of state was directed by the whims of one man and his family. Notorious for his extravagant outfits — ranging from white suits and sunglasses to military uniforms with frilled epaulets to brilliantly colored robes decorated with the map of Africa — he styled himself as a combination Bedouin chief and philosopher king.

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The death of Muammar Qaddafi

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He reveled in infuriating leaders, whether in the West or the Middle East. President Reagan, after the 1986 bombing that killed U.S. servicemen in Berlin was blamed on Libya, branded him a "mad dog." Former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, who fought a border war with Libya in the 1970s, wrote in his diary that Qaddafi was "mentally sick" and "needs treatment."

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Behind the flamboyance and showmanship, associates say Qaddafi was meticulous in managing the levers of power. He intervened in decisions large and small and constantly met personally with tribal leaders and military officers whose support he maintained through lucrative posts.

The sole constant was his grip on the country. Numerous coup and assassination attempts against him over the years mostly ended with public executions of the plotters, hanged in city squares.

The ultimate secret of his longevity lay in the vast oil reserves under his North African desert nation and in his capacity for drastic changes of course when necessary.

The most spectacular U-turn came in late 2003. After years of denial, Libya acknowledged responsibility — though in a Qaddafi-esque twist of logic, not guilt — for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people. He agreed to pay up to $10 million to relatives of each victim.

He also announced that Libya would dismantle its nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs under international supervision.

35 Photos

The life of Muammar Qaddafi

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The rewards came fast. Within months, the U.S. lifted economic sanctions and resumed diplomatic ties. The European Union hosted Qaddafi in Brussels. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2008 became the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the country in more than 50 years. Tony Blair, as British prime minister, visited him in Tripoli.

International oil companies rushed to invest in Libya's fields. Documents uncovered after Qaddafi's fall revealed close cooperation between his intelligence services and the CIA in pursuing terror suspects after the 9/11 attacks, even before the U.S. lifted its designation of Libya as a sponsor of terror in 2006.

Still, Qaddafi's renegade ways did not change. After Swiss police had the temerity to briefly arrest his son Hannibal for allegedly beating up two servants in a Geneva luxury hotel in 2008, Qaddafi's regime arrested two Swiss nationals and raked Switzerland over the coals, extracting an apology and compensation before finally releasing the men nearly two years later. European countries, eagerly building economic ties with Libya, did little to back up Switzerland in the dispute.

But Qaddafi became an instant pariah once more when he began a brutal crackdown on the February uprising in his country that grew out of the "Arab Spring" of popular revolts across the region. The U.N. authorized a no-fly zone for Libya in March, and NATO launched a campaign of airstrikes against his military forces.

"I am a fighter, a revolutionary from tents. ... I will die as a martyr at the end," he proclaimed in one of his last televised speeches during the uprising, pounding the lectern near a sculpture of a golden fist crushing a U.S. warplane.



© 2011 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Add a Comment
by bikerb54 October 20, 2011 12:53 PM EDT
Oldman67, I sincerly hope you are being sarcastic. If not, have you read what he has done to his own people???
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by oldman67 October 20, 2011 12:01 PM EDT
Qaddafi did more for his country than our leaders have done for the US. They were even better educated.Every citizen had a home. Each family got a share of the oil royalities.
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by kuching88 October 20, 2011 12:54 PM EDT
You can say that because you have never lived under the fist of Islam.

Take this opportunity to consider the consequences of allowing such people as Qaddafi, Stalin, Hitler, Nixon, Idi Amin, King Abdullah and G. W. Bush to come to power.
by Sloughfoot October 20, 2011 11:49 AM EDT
His head on a lance outside the green walls of his compound would be fitting of this desert jackel. GB had to persue him to his death for their miserable handleing of the Lockerbie charade. that they were able to unite the world against him was a diplomatic coupe. Now we'll wee what follows, with another Arab nation dismantled and many shuttering on their soundations it will be interesting to see who unites the people and the power of this region. One thing it will not be is "Western Democracey".
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by mecanik-2009 October 20, 2011 11:47 AM EDT
And a chapter of history ends with the death of Quddafi. Let us hope the next chapter is a better one.
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by 99jonny100 October 20, 2011 11:20 AM EDT
This disinformation propaganda is so transparent as to be laughable.
It was apparently written for a sixth grade audience, and really doesn't qualify as journalism, in any sense.
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