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Libya Research Paper

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Mezran begins this chapter on Libya with its history. Libya’s modern history started with the Italy’s war against the Ottoman empire, which led to Italian troops arriving at Tripoli and Benghazi. Italian rule in Libya was challenged by the Sanusiya movement (439). During World War II the British and French militaries captured Libya. The Sanusiya movement sided with the British, under the condition that Libya would be free from Italian rule, as the British forced the Italians out. The UN eventually drafted Libya’s independence (440). Independent Libya started as a constitutional monarchy with Islam as the state religion. Eventually many Libyans grew dissatisfied with King Idris due to his pro-Western stance, wealth among his top loyalists, and the growth of pan-Arabism from Egypt’s Nasser (441-2). In 1969, Qaddafi led a successful, bloodless coup against the king. Qaddafi’s reign included a stronger integration of Sharia into Libyan law, different styles of administering a government ranging from a cultural revolution with popular committees to revolutionary committees to a volunteer paramilitary group (442-5). …show more content…

One of Qaddafi’s first moves as the leader of Libya was to remove the US and UK military bases in Libya to show that Libya was free from foreign influence. Qaddafi’s strong pan-Arabic sentiments are exhibited by seven attempts at unification with other countries, such as the United Arab Republic with Egypt and Syria and the Arab Islamic Republic with Tunisia. Qaddafi’s alliance with the Soviet Union and his support for terrorism around the world caused the US to cease arms sales to Libya. The US and the UK also charged Libya with bombing of a Pan Am flight. This and another bombing on a French airline led to UN Resolutions 731 and 748 along with the US Iran-Libya Sanctions Act

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