Libya

The north african nation formally known as the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya has been dominated by Colonel Muammar al-Qadhafi since 1969 in a unique combination of socialism, Islam, and Qadhafism. Under Qadhafi, the Libyan government became a haven for suspected terrorists, and Libyan oil money was used in repeated attempts to affect politics and access to resources in other countries, as was unsuccessfully attempted in Chad in 1973. In the wake of United Nations sanctions that followed the bombing of Pam Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1992, overt support for terrorism decreased and Qadhafi moved toward normalizing relations with the West, including paying compensation for past terrorist activities.

Libya's only natural resource other than the petroleum and natural gas that dominate the ...