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Now, CNN's Zain Verjee looks at how Moammar Gadhafi has remained at the helm in Libya for more than 40 years.

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"Mad dog of the Middle East." That's what his enemies once called him.

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Colonel Moammar Gadhafi has ruled Libya for 42 years with an iron grip.

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He's megalomania eccentric and has advanced successfully the cult of personality in that he's almost godlike.

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He seized power in a military coup in 1969 and has ruled since as a dictator.

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In the 1970s and '80s, Gadhafi's relationship with the West turned violent in central London.

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At this very spot during a 1984 demonstration just outside the Libyan embassy,

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policewoman Yvonne Fletcher (ph) was shot and killed from gunfire coming from the embassy.

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Relations went from bad to worse when Gadhafi began sponsoring terrorism

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when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people.

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An investigation showed Libya was behind the attack.

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The country became a pariah. Hit with sanctions, Colonel Gadhafi was isolated.

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The turning point, the 2003 Iraq War.

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Worried that he would become the next target of U.S. military action,

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Gadhafi agreed to give up his pursuit of weapons of mass destruction,

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and he paid compensation to the families of Lockerbie bombing victims.

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His reintegration in the international community has been despite the very abusive human rights record

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and because of the obvious interests on the part of the West in Libya's oil wells.

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Wherever Gadhafi went, his famous female bodyguards went with him.

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The Libyan stage wasn't enough for Gadhafi.

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He loved the international limelight at the United Nations,

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refusing to give up the mic for 94 minutes.

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He ripped the U.N. Charter.

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The U.K.'s dealings with Libya came under harsh scrutiny

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when it was alleged convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdel al-Megrahi, supposedly dying of cancer, was released

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in what critics said was an exchange for a lucrative oil deal.

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Gadhafi's regime has fought to keep control for more than 40 years.

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Until now, most of the threats have been external.

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This time, there's evidence his own people may have had enough.