1942

Near Surt, Libya

Leader of Libya

"Palestine cannot be restored by negative means, not by classes, nor by donations. It can only be attained by the march of the Arab masses, free of fetters, restrictions and narrow regionalism."

The leader of the North African nation of Libya since 1970, Muʾammar Qaddafi has long been criticized in the West for supporting terrorist organizations in the Middle East and Europe, as well as for directly ordering terrorist attacks on American targets.

Qaddafi has tried to put into action what he calls the Third Universal Theory, which is a blend of socialist economics, in which the government controls the economy, popular democracy, and Islamic law. He has long opposed the influence of Western nations, including the United States, on less-developed countries.

Born in a tent

Qaddafi was born in 1942—the exact date is not...