Background On September 1, 1969, a group of Libyan officers – the "
Free Unionist Officers" – under the command of Colonel
Muammar Gaddafi, overthrew King
Idris I of the
Kingdom of Libya. After the coup, revolutionary officers established the
Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), a body originally conceived as a
collective leadership government. Due to his colorful personality and intense political style, with the RCC members' overwhelmingly consensus, Colonel Gaddafi became
de facto the new regime's leader. These officers participated in the revolutionary coup of September, but they would come into conflict with the new government. Dissatisfied with Gaddafi's centralist policies of removing his colleagues from political power and concentrating it in his hands, ministers Adam al-Hawaz and Moussa Ahmed distanced themselves from Gaddafi's regime and began plotting their coup d'état.
Coup attempt The coup attempt began on December 7, when rebels attempted to take control of key positions in eastern Libya. On the same day, the two coup leaders were captured and the government foiled the plot. The
Nasser government expressed solidarity with the Libyan government and the attempted coup was allegedly aborted with Egyptian security assistance. The plot was publicly revealed on December 10 and the government issued a series of statements. Libyan radio accused the alleged plotters in the conspiracy as "opportunists acting for imperialism"
Aftermath On December 11, a
constitutional proclamation declared the
Libyan Revolutionary Command Council as the highest authority of the republic. Captain
Abu-Bakr Yunis Jabr became the minister of defense.
Defense Minister Lieutenant Colonel Adam al-Hawaz and
Interior Minister Lieutenant Colonel Moussa Ahmed, with another 30 officers, were imprisoned since December 1969. The sentence was not carried out and Hawaz remained imprisoned at least until 1984. In March 1988, Hawaz's family was informed of his death but was not given any details. Moussa Ahmed remained imprisoned for almost 20 years – being released in 1988. ==See also==