Libya: Tuesday marks 15 years since the death of Libya's long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed after a nationwide uprising led to his overthrow.
The Libyan colonel was captured and subsequently killed after a gunfight in his hometown of Sirte on October 20, 2011.
The closing weeks and days of the ousted Libyan leader played out in the same town, where many of his die-hard loyalists had fled after the fall of Tripoli in August 2011. Before his death, Gaddafi had been the Arab world's longest-serving leader. However, the advent of the 'Arab Spring', which saw autocratic rulers toppled in neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt in early 2011, encouraged a popular revolt against his four decades in power.
Gaddafi was born in 1942 in the coastal area of Sirte to nomadic parents. He attended school in Sabha before enrolling at Benghazi University to study geography, but dropped out to join the army.
Gaddafi first entered the world stage in September 1969, when he led junior army officers in overthrowing King Idris in a bloodless military coup.
The ageing king had ruled the former Italian colony since it gained independence in 1951. Gaddafi oversaw the rapid development of his poverty-stricken country, formulating his 'Third Universal Theory', a middle path between communism and capitalism.
One of his first tasks was to build up the armed forces, but he also spent billions of dollars in oil income on improving living standards, making him popular among the poor.
Gaddafi's violent crackdown on dissent during the uprising sparked a civil war, prompting the Arab League to call for a United Nations no-fly zone over Libya.
On 17 March 2011, the United Nations Security Council voted to authorise a no-fly zone and 'all necessary measures' to protect civilians against Gaddafi's forces.
Two days later, a five-country coalition comprising the United States, France, Britain, Canada, and Italy launched air strikes on Libya in a joint operation called 'Odyssey Dawn'.