Editing Muammar Gaddafi (section)

====Foreign relations====
{{Further|Foreign relations of Libya under Muammar Gaddafi}}

[[File:Nasser Gaddafi 1969.jpg|thumb|upright|Gaddafi (left) with Egyptian President Nasser in 1969. Nasser privately described Gaddafi as "a nice boy, but terribly naïve".{{sfn|Blundy|Lycett|1987|p=18}}]]
The influence of Nasser's Arab nationalism over the RCC was immediately apparent.{{sfnm|1a1=Vandewalle|1y=2006|1pp=79–80|2a1=Vandewalle|2y=2008b|2p=9|3a1=St. John|3y=2012|3p=137}} The administration was instantly [[Diplomatic recognition|recognized]] by the neighbouring Arab nationalist regimes in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Sudan,{{sfnm|1a1=Bearman|1y=1986|1p=55|2a1=Blundy|2a2=Lycett|2y=1987|2p=60|3a1=Kawczynski|3y=2011|3p=18}} with Egypt sending experts to aid the inexperienced RCC.{{sfnm|1a1=Blundy|1a2=Lycett|1y=1987|1pp=62–63|2a1=Kawczynski|2y=2011|2p=18}} Gaddafi propounded [[pan-Arab]] ideas, proclaiming the need for a single Arab state stretching across North Africa and the Middle East.{{sfnm|1a1=Bearman|1y=1986|1p=96|2a1=Blundy|2a2=Lycett|2y=1987|2p=75|3a1=Kawczynski|3y=2011|3p=65|4a1=St. John|4y=2012|4p=186}} In December 1969, Libya signed the Tripoli Charter alongside Egypt and Sudan. This established the Arab Revolutionary Front, a pan-national union designed as a first step towards the eventual political unification of the three nations.{{sfnm|1a1=Bearman|1y=1986|1p=64|2a1=Blundy|2a2=Lycett|2y=1987|2p=75|3a1=Kawczynski|3y=2011|3p=65|4a1=St. John|4y=2012|4p=186}} In 1970 Syria declared its intention to join.{{sfnm|1a1=Bearman|1y=1986|1p=96}}

Nasser died unexpectedly in September 1970, with Gaddafi playing a prominent role at his funeral.{{sfn|Bearman|1986|p=66}} Nasser was succeeded by [[Anwar Sadat]], who suggested that rather than creating a unified state, the Arab states should create [[Federation of Arab Republics|a political federation]], implemented in April 1971; in doing so, Egypt, Syria, and Sudan received large grants of Libyan oil money.{{sfnm|1a1=Bearman|1y=1986|1p=97|2a1=Harris|2y=1986|2p=87|3a1=Kawczynski|3y=2011|3p=65|4a1=St. John|4y=2012|4pp=151–152}} In July 1971, Gaddafi sided with Sadat against the Soviet Union in the [[1971 Sudanese coup d'état]] and dispatched Libyan fighter jets to force down a [[British Overseas Airways Corporation|British Airlines]] jetliner carrying the leading coup plotters, [[Farouk Osman Hamadallah]] and Babikir al-Nour. They were extradited back to [[Khartoum]], where they were promptly executed by Sudanese leader [[Jaafar Nimeiry]].<ref name="Korn 88">{{cite book |last=Korn |first=David A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NDcwB0LusBEC&q=Hashem+al-Atta&pg=PA87 |title=Assassination in Khartoum |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=1993 |isbn=0253332028 |page=88 |access-date=5 March 2023 |archive-date=7 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307180303/https://books.google.com/books?id=NDcwB0LusBEC&q=Hashem+al-Atta&pg=PA87 |url-status=live }}</ref> In February 1972, Gaddafi and Sadat signed an unofficial charter of merger, but it was never implemented because relations broke down the following year. Sadat became increasingly wary of Libya's radical direction, and the September 1973 deadline for implementing the Federation passed by with no action taken.{{sfnm|1a1=Kawczynski|1y=2011|1p=66|2a1=St. John|2y=2012|2p=182}}

After the 1969 coup, representatives of the [[Allied Control Council|Four Powers]]—France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the [[Soviet Union]]—were called to meet RCC representatives.{{sfn|St. John|2012|p=140}} The UK and the US quickly extended diplomatic recognition, hoping to secure the position of their military bases in Libya and fearing further instability. Hoping to ingratiate themselves with Gaddafi, in 1970 the US informed him of at least one planned counter-coup.{{sfnm|1a1=Blundy|1a2=Lycett|1y=1987|1p=65|2a1=Kawczynski|2y=2011|2p=18|3a1=St. John|3y=2012|3pp=140–141}} Such attempts to form a working relationship with the RCC failed; Gaddafi was determined to reassert national sovereignty and expunge what he described as foreign colonial and imperialist influences. His administration insisted that the US and the UK remove their military bases from Libya, with Gaddafi proclaiming that "the armed forces which rose to express the people's revolution [will not] tolerate living in their shacks while the bases of imperialism exist in Libyan territory." The British left in March and the Americans in June 1970.{{sfnm|1a1=Bearman|1y=1986|1pp=76–77|2a1=Blundy|2a2=Lycett|2y=1987|2p=61|3a1=Kawczynski|3y=2011|3p=19|4a1=St. John|4y=2012|4pp=141–143}}

Moving to reduce Italian influence, in October 1970 all Italian-owned assets were expropriated, and the 12,000-strong [[Italian settlers in Libya|Italian community]] was expelled from Libya alongside the smaller community of [[History of the Jews in Libya|Libyan Jews]]. The day became a [[Public holiday|national holiday]] known as "Vengeance Day".{{sfnm|1a1=Bearman|1y=1986|1p=72|2a1=Blundy|2a2=Lycett|2y=1987|2p=64|3a1=Kawczynski|3y=2011|3pp=21–22|4a1=St. John|4y=2012|4p=142}} Italy complained that this was in contravention of the 1956 Italo-Libyan Treaty, although no UN sanctions were forthcoming.{{sfn|Bearman|1986|p=72}} Aiming to reduce [[NATO]] power in the Mediterranean, in 1971 Libya requested that [[Malta]] cease allowing NATO to use its land for a military base, in turn offering Malta foreign aid. Compromising, Malta's government continued allowing NATO to use the island, but only on the condition that NATO would not use it for launching attacks on Arab territory.{{sfnm|1a1=St. John|1y=1983|1p=475|2a1=St. John|2y=1987|2pp=87–88|3a1=St. John|3y=2012|3pp=150–151}} Over the coming decade, Gaddafi's government developed stronger political and economic links with [[Dom Mintoff]]'s Maltese administration, and under Libya's urging Malta did not renew the UK's airbases on the island in 1980.{{sfn|Bearman|1986|p=117}} Orchestrating a military build-up, the RCC began purchasing weapons from France and the Soviet Union.{{sfnm|1a1=St. John|1y=1987|1pp=74–75|2a1=St. John|2y=2012|2pp=144–145}} The commercial relationship with the latter led to an increasingly strained relationship with the US, which was then engaged in the [[Cold War]] with the Soviets.{{sfn|St. John|2012|pp=144–145}}

[[File:Oil Rich Libya.ogv|thumb|left|A 1973 anti-Gaddafist British [[newsreel]] including an interview with Gaddafi about his support for foreign militants]]

Gaddafi was especially critical of the US due to its support of Israel and sided with the [[Palestinians]] in the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]], viewing the 1948 creation of the State of Israel as a Western colonial occupation forced upon the [[Arab world]].{{sfnm|1a1=Blundy|1a2=Lycett|1y=1987|1pp=70–71|2a1=Vandewalle|2y=2008b|2p=34|3a1=Kawczynski|3y=2011|3p=64|4a1=St. John|4y=2012|4pp=150–152}} He believed that Palestinian violence against Israeli and Western targets was the justified response of an oppressed people who were fighting against the colonization of their homeland.{{sfn|Bearman|1986|p=114}} Calling on the Arab states to wage "continuous war" against Israel, in 1970 he initiated a Jihad Fund to finance anti-Israeli militants.{{sfnm|1a1=St. John|1y=1983|1p=478|2a1=Blundy|2a2=Lycett|2y=1987|2p=71|3a1=St. John|3y=1987|3p=36|4a1=St. John|4y=2012|4p=185}} In June 1972 Gaddafi created the First Nasserite Volunteers Centre to train anti-Israeli guerrillas.{{sfnm|1a1=Kawczynski|1y=2011|1p=37|2a1=St. John|2y=2012|2p=151}}

Like Nasser, Gaddafi favoured the Palestinian leader [[Yasser Arafat]] and his group, [[Fatah]], over more militant and [[Marxism|Marxist]] Palestinian groups.{{sfnm|1a1=Bearman|1y=1986|1pp=64–65|2a1=St. John|2y=1987|2p=37}} As the years progressed however, Gaddafi's relationship with Arafat became strained, with Gaddafi considering him too moderate and calling for more violent action.{{sfnm|1a1=Bearman|1y=1986|1p=116|2a1=Blundy|2a2=Lycett|2y=1987|2pp=69–70|3a1=Kawczynski|3y=2011|3p=37|4a1=St. John|4y=2012|4p=178}} Instead, he supported militias like the [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine]], [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command]], the [[Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine]], [[As-Sa'iqa]], the [[Palestinian Popular Struggle Front]], and the [[Abu Nidal Organization]].{{sfnm|1a1=Bearman|1y=1986|1p=116|2a1=Blundy|2a2=Lycett|2y=1987|2p=150|3a1=St. John|3y=2008|3p=95}} He funded the [[Black September Organization]] whose members perpetrated the 1972 [[Munich massacre]] of Israeli athletes in West Germany and had the killed militants' bodies flown to Libya for a hero's funeral.{{sfnm|1a1=Bearman|1y=1986|1p=114|2a1=Blundy|2a2=Lycett|2y=1987|2p=78|3a1=Kawczynski|3y=2011|3p=38|4a1=St. John|4y=2012|4p=178}}

Gaddafi financially supported other militant groups across the world, including the [[Black Panther Party]], the [[Nation of Islam]], the [[Almighty Black P. Stone Nation]], the [[Tupamaros]], the [[19th of April Movement]] and the [[Sandinista National Liberation Front]] in Nicaragua, the [[African National Congress|ANC]] among other [[liberation movements]] in the fight against [[Apartheid]] in South Africa, the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]], [[ETA (separatist group)|ETA]], [[Action Directe]], the [[Red Brigades]], and the [[Red Army Faction]] in Europe, and the [[Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia|Armenian Secret Army]], the [[Japanese Red Army]], the [[Free Aceh Movement]], and the [[Moro National Liberation Front]] in the [[Philippines]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ap |date=31 December 1987 |title=Five Draw Long Sentences for Terrorism Scheme |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/31/us/five-draw-long-sentences-for-terrorism-scheme.html |access-date=2 February 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=11 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211085951/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE5D71F3CF932A05751C1A961948260 |url-status=live }}</ref> Gaddafi was indiscriminate in the causes which he funded, sometimes switching from supporting one side in a conflict to the other, as in the [[Eritrean War of Independence]].{{sfnm|1a1=Blundy|1a2=Lycett|1y=1987|1pp=78–81, 150, 185|2a1=Kawczynski|2y=2011|2pp=34–35, 40–53|3a1=St. John|3y=2012|3p=151}} Throughout the 1970s these groups received financial support from Libya, which came to be seen as a leader in the [[Third World]]'s struggle against [[colonialism]] and [[neocolonialism]].{{sfnm|1a1=Blundy|1a2=Lycett|1y=1987|1pp=78–81, 150|2a1=Kawczynski|2y=2011|2pp=34–35, 40–53|3a1=St. John|3y=2012|3p=151}} Though many of these groups were labelled "[[terrorism|terrorists]]" by critics of their activities, Gaddafi rejected this characterization, instead considering them to be revolutionaries who were engaged in liberation struggles.{{sfn|Harris|1986|p=55}}