Bio

TRIPOLI, Libya - Muammar Gadhafi entered Benghazi Military University Academy before serving in the Libyan army in 1965 and was sent to Britain's Royal Military Sandhurst for training in 1966.

His rule started in September 1969, after the then junior officer, leading several of his colleagues in the "Free Officers Movement", staged a bloodless coup that toppled aging King Idris, who was then undergoing medical treatment in Turkey, and established the Libyan Arab Republic. Gadhafi became the chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council and commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Libya.

He served as the country's minister of defense and prime minister from 1970 to 1972. In 1977, he became the "Brother Leader and Guide of the Revolution", and relinquished all administration positions in 1979, retaining only this title.