CityLife

I was the youngest child born into a peasant family. my father is Mohammed Abdul Salam bin Hamed bin Mohammed Al-Gaddafi (Qadhafi), known as Abu Meniar (died 1985), mother is Aisha Gaddafi. I grew up in the desert region of Sirte. I was given a traditional religious primary education and attended the Sebha preparatory school in Fezzan from 1956 to 1961. I and a small group of friends that he met in this school went on to form the core leadership of a militant revolutionary group that would eventually seize control of the country. My inspiration was Gamal Abdel Nasser, president of neighboring Egypt, who rose to the presidency by appealing to Arab unity. In 1961, I was expelled from Sebha for my political activism. I went on to study law at the University of Libya, where I graduated with high grades. I then entered the Military Academy in Benghazi in 1963, where I and a few of his fellow militants organized a secretive group dedicated to overthrowing the pro-Western Libyan monarchy. After graduating in 1965, I went to Britain for further training at the British Army Staff College, now the Joint Services Command and Staff College, returning in 1966 as a commissioned officer in the Signal Corps.