History of Libya Under Muammar Gaddafi - Opposition, Coups and Revolts

Opposition, Coups and Revolts

Further information: National Front for the Salvation of Libya, National Conference for the Libyan Opposition, and Anti-Gaddafi forces

Throughout his long rule, Gaddafi had to defend his position against opposition and coup attempts, emerging both from the military and from the general population. He reacted to these threats on one hand by maintaining a careful balance of power between the forces in the country, and by brutal repression on the other. Gaddafi successfully balanced the various tribes of Libya one against the other by distributing his favours. To forestall a military coup, he deliberately weakened the Libyan Armed Forces by regularly rotating officers, relying instead on loyal elite troops such as his Revolutionary Guard Corps, the special-forces Khamis Brigade and his personal Amazonian Guard.