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How Do Libyans Remember Gaddafi’s Rule 13 Years After his Death?

Muammar Gaddafi (Archive Photo)
Muammar Gaddafi (Archive Photo)
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How Do Libyans Remember Gaddafi’s Rule 13 Years After his Death?

Muammar Gaddafi (Archive Photo)
Muammar Gaddafi (Archive Photo)

Tough living conditions have prompted some Libyans to feel nostalgic about the era of former leader Muammar Gaddafi, seeing it as a time of security. However, others remember the oppression and executions that characterized his 42-year rule.

This divide in views on Gaddafi—who was killed and displayed in a refrigerator in Misrata—remains strong among his supporters and opponents, even 13 years after his death.

Opponents of Gaddafi blame his regime for Libya’s current political crises and difficult living conditions.

Abdel Raouf Betalmal, a leader in the Libya Al-Namah party, said discussions about Gaddafi evoke sadness among many Libyans, who regret not benefiting from the country’s oil wealth during his rule.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Betalmal stated that Gaddafi “left no significant development or major projects, nor did he nurture political talent. Instead, he drained Libya in every way, leaving little for Libyans to remember positively.”

Responding to those who argue that goods were affordable and available during Gaddafi’s time, Betalmal criticized this view, saying they overlook his role in the spread of weapons, as he opened his stockpiles in the final months of his rule to try to suppress the uprising against him.

Libyan political analyst Hussein Al-Suwaidi, a supporter of Gaddafi, believes several reasons lead Libyans to remember and mourn the late leader. He points to a sense of national sovereignty as a key factor.

“Within months of the September 1 Revolution in 1969, British and US forces were expelled from Libya, along with over 30,000 Italians who controlled much of the agricultural land,” Al-Suwaidi told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The analyst also criticized the belief that nostalgia for Gaddafi’s era is mainly about low food prices.

“While that's true, there was also an increase in average income during his time,” he stated.

He noted that Gaddafi’s legacy is still relevant today, as many ministers in the rival governments of eastern and western Libya are recognized as former officials in his regime.

Al-Suwaidi argues that this counters claims that Gaddafi ignored leadership development and education.

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What to Know about Sudden Gains of the Opposition in Syria's 13-year War and Why it Matters

Fighters seize a Syrian Army tank near the international M5 highway in the area Zarbah which was taken over by anti-government factions on November 29, 2024, as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group and allied groups continue their offensive in Syria's northern Aleppo province against government forces. (Photo by Rami al SAYED / AFP)
Fighters seize a Syrian Army tank near the international M5 highway in the area Zarbah which was taken over by anti-government factions on November 29, 2024, as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group and allied groups continue their offensive in Syria's northern Aleppo province against government forces. (Photo by Rami al SAYED / AFP)
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What to Know about Sudden Gains of the Opposition in Syria's 13-year War and Why it Matters

Fighters seize a Syrian Army tank near the international M5 highway in the area Zarbah which was taken over by anti-government factions on November 29, 2024, as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group and allied groups continue their offensive in Syria's northern Aleppo province against government forces. (Photo by Rami al SAYED / AFP)
Fighters seize a Syrian Army tank near the international M5 highway in the area Zarbah which was taken over by anti-government factions on November 29, 2024, as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group and allied groups continue their offensive in Syria's northern Aleppo province against government forces. (Photo by Rami al SAYED / AFP)

The 13-year civil war in Syria has roared back into prominence with a surprise opposition offensive on Aleppo, one of Syria's largest cities and an ancient business hub. The push is among the opposition’s strongest in years in a war whose destabilizing effects have rippled far beyond the country's borders.
It was the first opposition attack on Aleppo since 2016, when a brutal air campaign by Russian warplanes helped Syrian President Bashar Assad retake the northwestern city. Intervention by Russia, Iran and Iranian-allied Hezbollah and other groups has allowed Assad to remain in power, within the 70% of Syria under his control.
The surge in fighting has raised the prospect of another violent front reopening in the Middle East, at a time when US-backed Israel is fighting Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, both Iranian-allied groups.
Robert Ford, the last-serving US ambassador to Syria, pointed to months of Israeli strikes on Syrian and Hezbollah targets in the area, and to Israel’s ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon this week, as factors providing Syria’s opposition groups with the opportunity to advance.
Here's a look at some of the key aspects of the new fighting:
Why does the fighting at Aleppo matter? Assad has been at war with opposition forces seeking his overthrow for 13 years, a conflict that's killed an estimated half-million people. Some 6.8 million Syrians have fled the country, a refugee flow that helped change the political map in Europe by fueling anti-immigrant far-right movements.
The roughly 30% of the country not under Assad is controlled by a range of opposition forces and foreign troops. The US has about 900 troops in northeast Syria, far from Aleppo, to guard against a resurgence by the ISIS extremist group. Both the US and Israel conduct occasional strikes in Syria against government forces and Iran-allied militias. Türkiye has forces in Syria as well, and has influence with the broad alliance of opposition forces storming Aleppo.
Coming after years with few sizeable changes in territory between Syria's warring parties, the fighting “has the potential to be really quite, quite consequential and potentially game-changing,” if Syrian government forces prove unable to hold their ground, said Charles Lister, a longtime Syria analyst with the US-based Middle East Institute. Risks include if ISIS fighters see it as an opening, Lister said.
Ford said the fighting in Aleppo would become more broadly destabilizing if it drew Russia and Türkiye— each with its own interests to protect in Syria — into direct heavy fighting against each other. -
What do we know about the group leading the offensive on Aleppo? The US and UN have long designated the opposition force leading the attack at Aleppo — Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, known by its initials HTS — as a terrorist organization.
Its leader, Abu Mohammed al-Golani, emerged as the leader of al-Qaeda's Syria branch in 2011, in the first months of Syria's war. His fight was an unwelcome intervention to many in Syria's opposition, who hoped to keep the fight against Assad's brutal rule untainted by violent extremism.
Golani early on claimed responsibility for deadly bombings, pledged to attack Western forces and sent religious police to enforce modest dress by women.
Golani has sought to remake himself in recent years. He renounced his al-Qaeda ties in 2016. He's disbanded his religious police force, cracked down on extremist groups in his territory, and portrayed himself as a protector of other religions. That includes last year allowing the first Christian Mass in the city of Idlib in years.
What's the history of Aleppo in the war? At the crossroads of trade routes and empires for thousands of years, Aleppo is one of the centers of commerce and culture in the Middle East.
Aleppo was home to 2.3 million people before the war. Opposition forces seized the east side of the city in 2012, and it became the proudest symbol of the advance of armed opposition factions.
In 2016, government forces backed by Russian airstrikes laid siege to the city. Russian shells, missiles and crude barrel bombs — fuel canisters or other containers loaded with explosives and metal — methodically leveled neighborhoods. Starving and under siege, the opposition surrendered Aleppo that year.
The Russian military's entry was the turning point in the war, allowing Assad to stay on in the territory he held.
This year, Israeli airstrikes in Aleppo have hit Hezbollah weapons depots and Syrian forces, among other targets, according to an independent monitoring group. Israel rarely acknowledges strikes at Aleppo and other government-held areas of Syria.