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List of Assassinations by the Gaddafi regime

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Full article adapted from Wikipedia revision 1374739008 by Wikipedia contributors. Text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Formatting has been adapted; article text and references are retained. Snapshot imported 2026-09-25.

As the ruler of Libya, Muammar Gaddafi sponsored several assassinations throughout the 1980s until the end of the regime in 2011, particularly in the "Stray Dogs" campaign targeting Libyan dissidents and exiles.[1] Amnesty International reported that between 1980 and 1987, a total of 25 political opponents were assassinated outside of the country in 37 attacks.[2]

Assassinations

<tbody> </tbody>
Target Nationality Position Date City Country Perpetrator Method
Mohamed Salem Rtemi Libya Businessman. 21 March 1980 Rome Italy Libyan hitmen. Shot to death.[3]
Mohammed Mustafa Ramadan Journalist. 11 April 1980 London United Kingdom Shooting.[4]
Aref Abdul Gelie Businessman. 19 April 1980 Rome Italy Shooting.[5]
Abdullatif Muntasser Relative of opposition leader Omar Al Muheisi. 21 April 1980 Beirut Lebanon Shot to death.[3]
Mahmud Abu Salem Fafa Lawyer 25 April 1980 London United Kingdom Shooting.[6][5]
Abdallah Mohamed al-Kazmi Dissident. 10 May 1980 Rome Italy Shooting.[7][8]
Omran el Mehdawi Former diplomat at the Libyan Embassy in Bonn. Bonn West Germany Bashir Ehmida.[9] Shooting.[10][11]
Mohamed Fouad Buohjar Merchant. 20 May 1980 Rome Italy Libyan revolutionary committee. Strangled and stabbed.[3]
Mohammed Lahderi Azzedin Businessman. 11 June 1980 Milan Italy Libyan hitmen. Shooting.[12]
Abdul Rahman Abu Bakr el Kimyas Junior Libyan army officer. 21 May 1980 Athens Greece Throat slashed.[3]
Ahmed Mustapha Grea'a University Student. 29 November 1980 Manchester United Kingdom Stabbed to death.[3]
Umar Muhayshi Libyan army officer, member of the Libyan Revolutionary Command Council. January 1984 Tripoli Libya Sa'eed Rashid. Tortured or beaten to death.[13][14][15][16]
Yvonne Fletcher United Kingdom Police officer. 17 April 1984 London United Kingdom Gunman in Libyan embassy. Shooting.[17]
Ahmed Rafiq al-Barrani Libya Businessman. 2 April 1985 Nicosia Cyprus Libyan hitmen. Shooting.
Gebril Abdul Raziq al-Dinali Former police officer and opposition leader. 6 April 1985 Bonn West Germany Fatahi El Tarhoni.[18] Shooting.[19][20][21]
Muhammad Fehaima Dissident. 7 January 1987 Athens Greece Libyan hitmen. Shot to death.[22][23]
Youssef Kherbish Member of the National Front for the Salvation of Libya. 26 June 1987 Rome Italy Shooting.[2]
Mansour Rashid Kikhia Libyan Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1972–1973, Libyan Ambassador to the United Nations, Permanent Libyan Representative to the United Nations from 1975–1980. Disappeared 10 December 1993 Cairo Egypt Unknown. Unknown.[24]
Daif al-Ghazal Opposition journalist. 21 May 2005 Benghazi Libya Suspected members of the Revolutionary Guard. Torture murder.[25][26][27]
Mohammed Nabbous Information technologist, blogger, businessperson and civilian journalist. 19 March 2011 Benghazi Libya Pro-Gaddafi militia. Shot with sniper rifle.[28]

Attempted assassinations

<tbody> </tbody>
Target Nationality Position Date City Country Perpetrator Method
Umar Muhayshi Libya Libyan army officer, member of the Libyan Revolutionary Command Council. 1976 Cairo Egypt Cuban exiles contracted by ex-CIA officers Edwin P. Wilson and Frank Terpil. Unspecified.[29][30]
Salem Mohammad Fezzani Libya / Italy Restaurant owner, 21 May 1980 Rome Italy Unidentified gunman. Shooting.[3]
Mohamed Saad Bekhit Libya Unspecified. 11 June 1980 Unidentified gunman. Shooting.[3]
Faisal Zagallai Student dissident. 14 October 1980 Fort Collins United States Eugene Tafoya. Shooting.[3][31]
Karim and Souad Kassuda Children of Libyan dissident Farad Kassuda. 11 November 1980 Portsmouth United Kingdom Unspecified Libyan man. Poisoning.[3]
Abdel Hamid Bakkush Former Prime Minister of Libya. November 1984 Cairo Egypt Anthony Gill, Godfrey Philip Chiner and two Maltese operatives.[32] Shooting.[33]
Ezzedin al-Ghadamsi Libyan ambassador to Austria. 28 February 1985 Vienna Austria Unidentified gunman. Shooting.[34]
20 May 1987 Mohammed El-Hak. Shooting.[35]
Hosni Mubarak Egypt President of Egypt. 1989 Addis Ababa Ethiopia Unspecified Libyan assassin. Unspecified.[36]
Abdullah of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia Crown Prince of Saudia Arabia 2003 Mecca Saudi Arabia Abdurahman Alamoudi and Mohamed Ismael. Shoulder-fired missiles (alleged).[37][38]

References

  1. ^ Bright, Martin (2004-03-28). "Gadaffi still hunts 'stray dogs' in UK". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
  2. ^ a b "Rights Group Details Libyan Assassinations". Los Angeles Times. 1987-07-18. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Political Killings by Governments: An Amnesty International Report (PDF). Amnesty International Publications. 1983. p. 69-73. ISBN 978-0-86210-051-3.
  4. ^ Ibrahim, Youssef M. (1980-04-12). "Libyan Journalist Is Slain by 2 Gunmen in London; 2 Libyans Reported Expelled Contributor to the BBC". The New York Times. p. 5. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
  5. ^ a b "Libyan hit squad victims". United Press International. 12 November 1981. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  6. ^ "Another Libyan Exile Assassinated in London". The Washington Post. 1980-04-26. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
  7. ^ "Slain Libyan's Cousin Held". The Washington Post. 1980-05-12. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
  8. ^ "Libyan terror campaign and victims list". United Press International. 13 November 1981. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  9. ^ Markham, James M. (1983-04-21). "LIBYA, IRKED AT BONN, HOLDS GERMANS". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
  10. ^ Taubman, Philip (1982-07-27). "FORMER C.I.A. AGENT LINKED TO ASSASSIN'S WEAPON". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
  11. ^ Kamen, Al; Smith, Philip (1982-07-27). "Ex-Agent Linked to Delivery of Gun Used in Assassination". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
  12. ^ Olimpio, Guido (2018-07-22). "Sicari libici in Centrale: il dossier Lahderi, ucciso nel 1980 in stazione". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 2026-06-30.
  13. ^ el-Magariaf, Mohamed Yousef (2008). ليبيا من الشرعية الدستورية إلى الشرعية الثورية: دراسة توثيقية تحليلية (in Arabic). Cairo: مكتبة وهبة ؛. p. 469. ISBN 978-977-17-5227-1.
  14. ^ Charbel, Ghassan (16 July 2011). "شلقم لـ«الحياة»: القذافي اشترى المحيشي من المغرب وذبحه ... قالوا إن الصدر اصطدم بمعمر فقتله أحد الضباط (1)". Dar Al Hayat (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 2011-08-18. Retrieved 2026-07-01.
  15. ^ Harris, Lillian Craig (1986). Libya: Qadhafi's Revolution and the Modern State. Routledge. p. 20. ISBN 978-1-000-53529-7 – via Internet Archive.
  16. ^ Miller, Judith (1985-11-13). "CHALLENGES TO QADDAFI DISCOUNTED". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-07-01.
  17. ^ Belfield, Richard (2005). The Assassination Business: A History of State-sponsored Murder. Carroll & Graf Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7867-1343-1.
  18. ^ Amnesty International Report 1986. Amnesty International Publications. 1986. p. 347. ISBN 978-0-86210-106-0.
  19. ^ "Foe of Qaddafi Killed By a Libyan in Bonn". The New York Times. 1985-04-07. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
  20. ^ AFP (1985-04-07). "Gebril Denali,". El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
  21. ^ "A gunman shot and killed a Libyan dissident and seriously injured two West Germans Saturday in front of hundreds of horrified shoppers". United Press International. 6 April 1985. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  22. ^ Stokes, Lee (9 January 1987). "Authorities fear gunmen have Western target hit-list". United Press International. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
  23. ^ The Amnesty International Report. Amnesty International Publications. 1988. p. 247. ISBN 978-0-86210-143-5.
  24. ^ Grant, George (2012-12-04). "Mansour Kikhia Laid to Rest in Benghazi After Decades-Long Mystery". Libya Herald. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
  25. ^ "Opposition journalist Daif Al Ghazal tortured to death". RSF. 2005-06-06. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
  26. ^ Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Addendum to Briefing to the UN Human Rights Committee (Report). Amnesty International. September 2007.
  27. ^ International, Amnesty (2008). The Amnesty International Report. Amnesty International Publications. p. 195.
  28. ^ Wells, Matt (2011-03-19). "Mohammad Nabbous, face of citizen journalism in Libya, is killed". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
  29. ^ Taubman, Philip (1981-07-17). "ARMS EXPORTER IS BELIEVED LINKED WITH ATTEMPT TO MURDER LIBYAN". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-07-01.
  30. ^ Gilmore, Daniel F. (March 3, 1983). "After less than a day and a half, the..." United Press International. Retrieved 2026-07-01.
  31. ^ Vaughan, Douglas L. (1981-11-18). "Libyan Identifies Tafoya as His Assailant". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
  32. ^ "CAIRO FAKES PICTURES AND FOILS LIBYAN DEATH PLOT". The New York Times. 1984-11-18. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
  33. ^ Murphy, Jamie (1984-12-03). "Libya: The Doublecross and the Hit Hoax". TIME. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
  34. ^ "SHOUTING `GADHAFI,` GUNMAN ATTACKS LIBYAN EX-AMBASSADOR". Chicago Tribune. 1987-05-21. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
  35. ^ "Ex-Libya Ambassador Hurt in Vienna Attack". The New York Times. 1987-05-21. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
  36. ^ "Al Arabiya show reveals Qaddafi plot to assassinate Mubarak and Hassan II". Al Arabiya English. 2015-07-31. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
  37. ^ "Gaddafi ordered assassination of Saudi crown prince, plotters claim". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2004-06-11. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
  38. ^ Frieden, Terry (31 July 2004). "U.S. Muslim leader tells of role in Libya assassination plot". CNN. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
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