In Pictures: A look back at Gaddafi’s reign

Colonel Muammar Gaddafi seized power in a military coup in 1969. His dictatorship came to an end after six months of pro-democracy protests and bloody battles between rebel forces and Gaddafi loyalists.

After rebels captured his fortified compound in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, Gaddafi fled to his hometown, Sirte. On October 20 Gaddafi was captured and is held in custody, the NTC reported.

September 1970: Middle Eastern leaders meet in Cairo. From left to right: Muammar Gaddafi, Palestinian Liberation Organisation leader Yasser Arafat, Sudanese President el-Nimeiri, Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, Saudi Arabian king Feisal al-Saud and Kuwaiti Sheikh Sabah al-Salim al-Sabah [EPA]

 

September 1970: Left to right: King Feisal of Saudi Arabia; Gaddafi of Libya; Abdul Rahman al-Iryani, former president of Yemen; Gamal Abdel Nasser, former president of Egypt [GALLO/GETTY]

 

May 8, 1972: Left to right: Houari Boumedienne, former president of Algeria; Anwar Sadat, assassinated president of Egypt; and Gaddafi meet for a conference [GALLO/GETTY]

 

May 23, 1976: Gaddafi salutes [GALLO/GETTY]

 

April 1979: Libyan head of state Colonel Muammar Gaddafi portrait [Keystone via GALLO/GETTY]

 

 

January 12, 1986: Gaddafi looks on during a news conference at his Bedouin tent erected in the heavily fortified Bab El-Assaria barracks on the outskirts of Tripoli [Kate Dourian/Reuters]

 

March 28, 1986: Gaddafi waves to supporters as he gives a speech condemning the US from a balcony at his Bab al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli [Reuters]

 

January 1990: Deposed Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (right) welcomes Muammar Gaddafi upon his arrival at Tunis airport [Reuters]

 

April 21, 1992: Gaddafi(L) laughs as Mubarak jokes with photographers at the Egyptian border town of Sidi Barrani [Aladin Abdel Naby/Reuters]

 

February 5, 2001: Gaddafi speaks to reporters at his residence in Tripoli [Reuters]

 

February 5, 2001: Gaddafi at Bab al-Aziziya during a press briefing [AFP]

 

March 29, 2008: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (right) welcomes Gaddafi at the opening of the two-day Arab Summit in Damascus [GALLO/GETTY]

 

April 17, 2008: Gaddafi looks at a Russian-language edition of his book ‘The Green Book’ during his meeting with Vladimir Putin, Russian prime minister, in Tripoli [GALLO/GETTY]

 

August 30, 2008: Gaddafi, sitting in a chair given to him as a gift, as he is surrounded by African tribal leaders attending the Forum of Traditional Kings, Sultans, Princes and Sheikhs of Tribes in Africa in Benghazi, Libya [EPA]

 

November 4, 2008: Gaddafi takes part in an official welcoming ceremony in Kiev, Ukraine [Reuters]

 

February 2, 2009: Gaddafi attends the opening session of the 12th African Union Summit in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa [Reuters]

 

March 10, 2009: Gaddafi (L) attends a prayer in Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania [Ahmed Elhajj/EPA]

 

July 9, 2009: Gaddafi (left) shakes hands with US President Barack Obama during the G8 summit in L’Aquila, Italy [GALLO/GETTY]

 

July 10, 2009: Gaddafi attends a working session on food security on the third day of the G8 summit in L’Aquila, Italy [GALLO/GETTY]

 

August 31, 2009: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (right) greets Gaddafi in Tripoli [GALLO/GETTY]

 

September 23, 2009: Gaddafi gestures over his notes as he addresses at the United Nations 64th General Assembly at the headquarters in New York [GALLO/GETTY]

 

September 23, 2009: Gaddafi delivers a 94-minute speech at the 64th General Debate of the UN General Assembly in New York [EPA]

 

September 28, 2009: Gaddafi and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez greet sympathizers in Porlamar, Margarita Island, in northwestern Venezuela, during Gaddafi’s first visit to Latin America since his arrival in power 40 years ago [AFP]

 

August 29, 2010: Gaddafi walks down the stairs of his private airplane followed by members of his ‘Amazonian Guard’ – an elite force of female bodyguards – at the Ciampino airport in Rome [Reuters]

 

August 29, 2010: A member of Gaddafi’s entourage carries the colonel’s clothes at the Ciampino airport in Rome, Italy [GALLO/GETTY]

 

October 10, 2010: Gaddafi at the opening of the second Arab-African summit in Sirte, Libya, with Mubarak, and his embattled Yemeni counterpart Ali Abdullah Saleh [EPA]

 

February 22, 2011: Gaddafi gives a lengthy speech broadcast on Libyan state television, blaming foreign powers for the ongoing protests against his regime in Libya [Al Jazeera]

 

April 10, 2011: Gaddafi waving from a car in the heavily fortified military barracks and compound of Bab Al Azizia in Tripoli [Mohamed Messara/EPA]

 

August 25, 2011: A still image of Gaddafi is displayed to accompany his audio message broadcast by Syrian TV channel Al-Orouba [Al-Orouba via Reuters TV/Reuters]