Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

Libya, 1977–2011. Draft, not yet reviewed

In 1977, the name was changed to Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. Jamahiriya was a term coined by Gaddafi, usually translated as state of the masses. The country was renamed again in 1986 as the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, after the United States bombing that year. The fall of the last remaining sites in Sirte under pro-Gaddafi control on 20 October 2011, followed by the killing of Gaddafi, marked the end of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.

Seat of power: Tripoli

Rulers

Muammar Gaddafi

Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution, 1969–2011

He ruled Libya from 1969 until his overthrow by Libyan rebel forces in 2011 during the First Libyan Civil War. In 1977, Gaddafi transformed Libya into a new socialist state called a Jamahiriya ("state of the masses"). He officially adopted a symbolic role in governance but remained head of both the military and the Revolutionary Committees responsible for policing and suppressing dissent.

Portrait of Muammar Gaddafi: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jesse B. Awalt/Released, Public domain, file

Abdul Ati al-Obeidi

Secretary-General of the General People's Congress, 1979–1981

He held various top posts in Libya under Muammar Gaddafi; he was Prime Minister from 1977 to 1979 and General Secretary of General People's Congress from 1979 to 1981. He was one of three main negotiators in Libya's decision to denounce and drop their nuclear weapons program.

Portrait of Abdul Ati al-Obeidi: Foreign and Commonwealth Office, OGL v1.0, file

Abdul Razzaq as-Sawsa

Secretary-General of the General People's Congress, 1990–1992

He was the General Secretary of Libya's General People's Congress, and as such at least theoretically the head of state of Libya from 7 October 1990 to 18 November 1992. However, it was Muammar Gaddafi who continued to exercise ultimate authority in Libya, as Leader and Guide of the Revolution.

Muhammad az-Zanati

Secretary-General of the General People's Congress, 1992–2008

He was the General Secretary of the General People's Congress, and the head of state of Libya from 18 January 1992 until 3 March 2008. He was reappointed on 1 March 2000.

Portrait of Muhammad az-Zanati: يوسف الختالي, Public domain, file

Culture

Gaddafi undertook several invasions of neighboring states in Africa, notably Chad in the 1970s and 1980s. All of his actions led to a deterioration of Libya's foreign relations with several countries, mostly Western states and the Arab world, and culminated in the 1986 United States bombing of Libya as well as the support of Ba'athist Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Sudan towards Chad against Gaddafi.
In early 2011, a civil war broke out in the context of the wider Arab Spring. The rebel anti-Gaddafi forces formed a committee named the National Transitional Council in February 2011, to act as an interim authority in the rebel-controlled areas.
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Gaddafi and his entourage in June 2011.

Picture

Martyrs' Square, known as Green Square under the Gaddafi government, is a downtown landmark at the bay in the city of Tripoli.

Image: David Holt, CC BY-SA 2.0, file

Sources

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.