Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi is the longtime dictator of Libya who was a vehement opponent of the United States until the 2000s. Gaddafi became an officer in the Libyan military in 1966. He was part of a military coup that overthrew the country's monarchy in 1969. Gaddafi emerged as the leader of the country and embarked on a domestic program in which he tried to combine Arab nationalism and government control of major industries, a program he termed "Islamic socialism." His dictatorial regime brutally suppressed dissent, but used proceeds from energy exports to increase social spending. Gaddafi supported pan-Arabism and endorsed several failed initiatives to create federations of states with Libya, Egypt, Syria, and Tunisia. The Libyan leader also provided arms and funds to a range of Arab nationalist organizations. He was one of the most important backers of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

Libya's support for terrorist groups isolated the Gaddafi regime from the United States and European nations, especially after Great Britain discovered that the Libyan government was funneling weapons and cash to the Irish Republican Army. The administration of President Ronald W. Reagan imposed economic sanctions on the regime in 1982. Reagan also ordered air strikes against Tripoli after Libya was implicated in the bombing of a Berlin nightclub in 1986 that killed three and injured more than 200.

Libyan intelligence services were also linked to the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing in 1988. That attack killed 189 Americans, making it the worst terrorist strike on the United States prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks. The United Nations (UN) imposed economic and military sanctions on the Gaddafi regime for its part in the bombing. In 1993, Gaddafi survived an assassination attempt and military coup. Following mediation efforts by South African president

Nelson R. Mandela, Gaddafi agreed to turn over two suspects indicted in the bombing. One of the two was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2003, Libya formally accepted responsibility for the Pan Am bombing and agreed to pay $270 million to the families of the victims of the attack. In response, the UN first suspended and then repealed sanctions against Libya.

Although he supported Arab nationalism, Gaddafi opposed radical religious Islamic groups such as Al Qaeda. In 1999, Qaddafi pledged to combat Al Qaeda and share intelligence as part of a broader effort to improve relations with the West. He also offered to allow inspections of his chemical and nuclear programs. The Clinton administration rebuffed Gaddafi's initiatives.

Gaddafi condemned the 2001 Al Qaeda attack on the United States and offered various degrees of cooperation in the war on terror to the administration of President George W. Bush. After the overthrow of the regime of Saddam Hussein during the 2003 Iraq War, Gaddafi again offered to open his weapons programs to international oversight. Inspections documented the extent of Libya's chemical and nuclear program and started dismantling and destroying the weapons. In 2003, Washington ended its economic sanctions on Tripoli. The next year, British Prime Minister Tony Blair paid a state visit to Libya in recognition of improved relations with Gaddafi. In 2006, the Bush administration restored full diplomatic relations with Libya and removed the regime from the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism.

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