National Transitional Council of Libya - World Model United Nations

was too moderate and lacked commitment to Arab
unity. The carefully organized plan involved shooting
down Hussein’s private jet. Though the assassination
was well planned and elaborate, at the last minute,
Qaddafi’s personal assassin defected and warned
Hussein about the plot. 30 In 1984, Qaddafi ordered a
bombing run of a radio station in Omdurman, Sudan.
The radio station had been broadcasting anti-Qaddafi
propaganda, and Qaddafi wanted to send a powerful
message to the Sudanese government. However,
like many of his other initiatives, this too failed when
the bomber missed, killing only a street vendor. 31
That July, ships began experiencing explosions while
passing through the Red Sea. By August, seventeen
ships had been sunk by small underwater mines;
these were traced back to Qaddafi, who had claimed
that ships carrying goods to Israel should be sunk and
that Arab oil “should be destroyed if it is not used for
the liberation of Palestine.” 32 Qaddafi continued to
support, sponsor, and promote terrorism throughout
the world for the next half decade, only slowing down
when the world began to actively turn against him in
the early 1990s.
Libya and the US
In response to Qaddafi’s increasing support of
terrorism, the US began taking steps against Libya. In
1978, President Carter prohibited the sale of military
equipment to Qaddafi’s forces, and in February
1980, Carter closed down the US embassy in Tripoli.
However, these steps were relatively minor. In January
1981, Ronald Reagan replaced Carter, a change that
would cause problems for Libya. Reagan was far
more outspoken against Libya and its actions, viewing
Libya as a visible target against which he could assert
American power and strength. Labeling Qaddafi as
the “Mad Dog of the Middle East,” Reagan actively
worked against his regime. By early 1982, Reagan had
closed the Libyan embassy in Washington, prohibited
travel to Libya, embargoed crude oil imports from
Libya, and prohibited US export of refined oil and gas
to Libya. 33
In mid-1981, the conflict took a sharp turn for the
worse when two Libyan jet fighters were shot down
by the United States’ Sixth Fleet. The fighters had
been in a dogfight over the Gulf of Sirte, which Libya
claimed as its own but which the West considered
international waters. Qaddafi attempted to use the
attack as a catalyst to mobilize Libyans against the
United States. Armed with fiery anti-West rhetoric,
Qaddafi proposed the creation of a popular army. The
goal behind the creation of this army was to increase
nationalism and anti-Western feelings among the
general public. However, as had been the case in the
past, the Libyan people were not eager to participate
in Qaddafi’s popular movement, and the push for a
popular army was unsuccessful. However, in the wake
of the Sirte confrontation, Libya signed a treaty with
the pro-Soviet nations of Ethiopia and South Yemen,
indicating its support for the uSSR against “American
aggression” in the Arab world. 34
Tensions between Libya and the US continued to
rise throughout the early 1980s. In early 1983, Qaddafi
adopted the term “devil on earth” when referring to
the US, and on 18 February 1983, he orchestrated
massive anti-US demonstrations, publicly burning
effigies of Reagan. Later that year, a suicide bomber
linked to Libya attacked the US embassy in Lebanon.
A year later, in 1984, a major attack on Qaddafi’s
Tripoli office was carried out by the National Front for
the Salvation of Libya, an opposition group organized
by the pro-American government of Sudan. When
the same pro-American Sudanese government was
overthrown in 1985, Washington naturally suspected
Libya. Their suspicions were heightened when
Qaddafi declared, “Reagan has nothing to do with
Sudan. Sudan is ours.” 35 Libya continued to work
against American policy in Africa and the Middle
east, supporting Palestinian terrorist groups, and
hijacking ships and jets with American citizens on
board. Tensions came to a head in March 1986, when
a second incident occurred in the Gulf of Sirte, in
which missiles were exchanged between Libyan and
American forces. Then, on 5 April 1986, a German
discotheque named La Belle was bombed by Libyans,
wounding hundreds and killing two US soldiers.
For the United States, the bombing of La Belle
was the last straw. Washington immediately sought
European aid against Libya, and within a few weeks,
Great Britain agreed to let uS aircraft use British
bases, and the European Economic Community
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