Through the years, Colonel Gadhafi gained a reputation as an eccentric leader. During his reign, he supported a number of revolutionary movements, and was accused of sponsoring Islamic extremists.
Gadhafi's 42-Year Reign Marked by Controversy
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi gestures with a green cane as he takes his seat behind bulletproof glass for a military parade in Green Square, Tripoli, Libya, September 1, 2009. (AP)
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is seen during a group photo at the G8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy, July 10, 2009. (AP)
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, center, welcoming Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, right, who is guarded by a female bodyguard, left, upon his arrival at the Presidential Palace in Cairo, 21 July 2002.
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, left, leans on the shoulder of Pan African Parliament member Gertrude Mongella during a group photo at an EU Africa summit in Lisbon, December 8, 2007. (AP)
Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi (C) arrives at Cairo university for a meeting with university professors, The armed woman to the right of Gaddafi is his personal bodyguard, May 27, 1996.
Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi attends the opening of the African Union summit at the Commonwealth Resort in Munyonyo, near Uganda's capital Kampala, July 25, 2010. ( Reuters)
An image of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi appears on a large screen during his speech at the opening of the 38th Organisation for African Unity (OAU) summit in Durban, South Africa, Monday, July 8, 2002. (AP)
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi speaks during a press conference in Triopli, Libya Monday, Feb. 5, 2001, in front of his home which was bombed by the U.S. Air Force on April 15, 1988. (Reuters)
Libyans welcome Libyan Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, who found guilty of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, top left, as he is accompanied by Seif al-Islam el- Gadhafi, son of Libyan leader Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi upon his arrival at airport in Tripoli, Libya, A