In October 2011, months-long "civil unrest in Libya" ended with the arrest of Muammar Gaddafi and his "heir" Mutassim. In an Arab television broadcast of Mu'Tassim's arrest, the man in a white vest and a firearm was calmly arrested in Sirte, without a hint of panic on his face.
Later, a picture of Mutasim before his death was circulated on the Internet, in which Mutasim sat in the corner, allowing the other party to untie his body, silently looked at the wounds on his body, and sorted out the hair on his sideburns.
The caretaker threw Mutasim a bottle of mineral water and said to him: "Don't look at your wounds, the time that belonged to your father is over, and we will perform some surgical operations on you next." ”
In the face of the other party's ridicule, Mutassim did not have excessive emotions, but drank a large sip of mineral water, and did not show a little fear of death.
Gaddafi and his children
In September 1969, at the age of 27, Gaddafi led the "Free Officers Organization" in a coup d'état, seized Libyan radio stations, and announced to the world a shocking news: the Idris dynasty is history, and a new Libyan Republic is born.
It has to be said that Gaddafi himself has a talent for leadership, and his official title after taking office is Libyan "revolutionary leader", rather than president or king in the traditional sense, a move that has won the favor of countless Libyan civilians.
But Qaddafi is not devoid of rights, and what Gaddafi called "all rights to the people" is only a means he uses to maintain his dominance. In addition to his capacity as chairman of the Revolutionary Steering Committee, Gaddafi also held the post of commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and he himself held the rank of colonel.
From 1970 to 1972, Gaddafi also served as Libya's defense minister. Gaddafi, who has various capacities such as commander-in-chief, defense minister, and chairman of the committee, is the undisputed leader of real power in Libya.
Perhaps because of the power of these positions, in order to maintain the image of "pro-people and equality", Gaddafi resigned from all administrative posts in March 1979, retaining only the title of "revolutionary mentor and brother leader".
But this move is a bit redundant, because after nearly 10 years of operation, Gaddafi has firmly grasped the political, economic, and military lifelines of Libya, and it can be said that even if Gaddafi does not have any position, he is still the most powerful person in Libya.
Compared with the smooth sailing of his political career, Gaddafi's married life was slightly bumpy.
Before Gaddafi became the leader of Libya, he had married the daughter of a wealthy businessman, Helia, and the two had a son, Gaddafi's eldest son, Mohammed, but unfortunately the marriage did not last long.
In 1972, Gaddafi was admitted to a hospital in Tripoli for a stomach ulcer, and during his hospitalization, he met Safiya, a nurse at the hospital, and the two quickly fell in love.
After their marriage, they had seven children, namely the second son Saif al-Islam, the third son Saadi, the fourth son Hannibal, the fifth son Mutassim, the sixth son Saif al-Arab, the seventh son Khamis and the daughter Aisha.
Not all of Qaddafi's children are interested in power, such as the third son, Saadi, who became an adult and captained the Libyan national football team. The fourth son, Hannibal, has made great achievements in the transportation industry and is known as the "Libyan ship king".
Among them, Mutasim, the fifth son of Gaddafi, is the only one with a government official position, he once served as Libya's national security adviser, and Mutasim was once considered Gaddafi's successor.
From the moment Mutasim was born, Gaddafi had high hopes for him.
Mutassim's growth
Mutassim was born in 1977 and his full name is Mutassim Bila Gaddafi. The name has a special meaning, where "al-Bila" means "related to God" in Arabic, and the name al-Mutasim al-Bira was once the name of an emperor of the Arab Empire.
By naming his son after the emperor, Gaddafi fully expressed his expectations for this son, hoping that he would inherit his political mantle in the future.
Gaddafi's cultivation of Mutasim can be said to have spared no effort. When Mutasim was 2 years old, Gaddafi took him to the BBC news interview.
Gaddafi has already arranged what Mutasim will do every day and what skills he needs to learn, including which university he will go to and what major he will study.
Unfortunately, Muthasim did not understand Gaddafi's intentions, and at the critical moment of choosing a university, he did not go to New York University to study law, as Gaddafi had hoped, but chose to study medicine at the Fatah Medical College in Tripoli.
Mutassim's choice of medical school was most likely influenced by his mother, who was a former nurse and a role model for him. But this move made Gaddafi furious, and after that, Gaddafi kept silent on any occasion about Mutassim, as if he did not have this son.
Mutassim spent several years of his own time in medical school before being forcibly sent by Gaddafi to the Military Academy for militarized training.
On September 30, 1998, Mutassim was awarded the rank of lieutenant during a grand celebration at the Armoured Corps and Infantry School in Tripoli, the capital of Libya. Although this rank was instructed by his father, it was also an affirmation of the results of his militarized training.
In the years that followed, Mutassim was at home in the army, rising in rank from lieutenant to captain, and by 2001, at the age of 24, he had attained the rank of major.
"Gaddafi's ideal heir", "Libya's future leader" and many other titles were added to Mutassim this year! He became the darling of the news media and the focus of many activities.
Then soon after, an unexpected thing happened, and Mutassim "disappeared"!
One second it's an overwhelming news interview, the next it's gone without a trace. Mutasim disappeared abruptly and without warning.
When the media tried to get a glimmer of information about Mutasim from Gaddafi's mouth, Gaddafi kept silent, as if he had never had this son.
A year, two, three, four years passed, and Mutassim still didn't show up.
At the end of August 2005, the 62nd Venice Film Festival was held in Venice, Italy, as scheduled.
During the "Libyan Night" session, Gaddafi appeared under the lens of the media with his family, and people were surprised to find that behind Gaddafi, there was a strange and familiar figure - Mutassim!
Regarding the reason for his disappearance and reappearance, some media have made a relatively reliable guess:
In 2001, Mutassim tried to plot a coup d'état to replace his father, but due to personal strength, the matter was revealed, and he finally fled in a hurry. But no one knows how he eventually won Gaddafi's understanding and returned to Libya four years later.
Enter politics and transform Mutassim
In 4 years, Mutasim has reined in his edge, but he is Gaddafi's son after all, and the genes for power are buried in his bones.
The international environment in which Libya is located is not friendly, and Gaddafi's strong attitude towards the outside world has undermined the interests of many NATO countries, especially after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Libya has lost its backers, and the United States, France and other countries have imposed a series of economic sanctions on Libya.
Instead of solving his problems, Gaddafi's sons began to expand their power frantically with the help of Gaddafi's aftermath.
Because of economic sanctions, many American products cannot be sold in Libya, but they cannot bear to give up Libyan profits, and Gaddafi's sons encourage these companies to build factories in Egypt for personal gain.
In the 4 years since Mutasim's disappearance, the power in his hands has been divided among several brothers, and Mutasim, who has returned to the family, decides to reclaim his former resources, and he officially begins to seize power with his brother.
And regaining control of the Coca-Cola factory that once belonged to him from his eldest brother was his first step in seizing power. Mutassim's seizure of power was not clever, even rude, sending soldiers directly into the Coca-Cola factory, and even kidnapping Muhammad's relatives to show him his attitude.
Gaddafi watched Mutasim's various actions one by one, but he did not stop Mutasim, he wanted to see how far this son, who was once his most optimistic son, had grown after 4 years of training. And Mutasim's performance did not disappoint Gaddafi.
The infighting between the brothers lasted for months, and Qaddafi finally chose Mutassim, with the flirtatious phrase "settle it according to the legal process." This decision directly announced that the eldest prince Mohammed was out of the "battle for the heir of Gaddafi".
The factory was initially led by Mutassim, and it is only natural that it was eventually brought in by Mutassim.
Since then, Mutassim has stepped into Libyan politics and has been singing all the way.
In 2007, Libya's National Security Council was formally established, and Mutassim assumed the position of National Security Adviser.
Mutassim's military rank was also "logically promoted" to colonel, in line with Gaddafi.
In 2008, Mutasim expressed to Gaddafi that he wanted to have an army of his own, and Gaddafi did not say a word, but directly allocated $28 billion to Mutasim, and a Libyan army was born.
During his time in charge of Libyan diplomacy, Mutassim also made many achievements, such as meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in 2008 and Hillary Clinton in 2009, then US Secretary of State, while maintaining close ties with Cuba.
The war in Libya, the death of Mutassim
It has been 42 years since the Gaddafi clique took control of Libya in 1969 and 2011. The long-term dictatorship made Gaddafi forget his original intention of being in power and began to accumulate wealth and enjoy life.
The Gaddafi family is involved in a variety of industries, including oil, gas, telecommunications, infrastructure and consumer goods, from which they make huge profits every year, and the members of the Gaddafi family have more than $30 billion in assets in banks around the world.
In addition, the dictatorship has also spawned corruption, with a corruption rate of 2.2 in 2010 (10 being the most corrupt, the lower the rate, the more serious the corruption) The problem of corruption has made the gap between the rich and the poor in Libya become wider and wider, and the contradictions between the people and the government have become more and more prominent.
If it is just the people's protests and demonstrations, it is not enough to worry Gaddafi, but his strong attitude towards NATO for many years has long caused dissatisfaction with the other side. Therefore, in February 2011, when the protests broke out in Libya, NATO countries also began to impose sanctions on Libya.
On February 16, 2011, protests took place in various parts of Libya demanding the resignation of Muammar Gaddafi's government; On the 19th, the Libyan government used force to suppress demonstrators, killing more than 300 people and injuring 1,000.
On the 25th, the European Union imposed an arms embargo and a travel ban on Libya, and on the 26th, the United Nations unanimously resolved to freeze the assets of Gaddafi and his family members.
In March, the government forces led by the Gaddafi family and the rebel forces engaged in a fierce struggle, and the government forces once had the upper hand and dominated the development of the war, but some countries obviously did not want to see Gaddafi win, and helped the rebels control the situation through a series of means such as the establishment of a no-fly zone, air strikes, and naval blockades.
The Libyan war continued until October 2011, during which Mutassim led his troops into a valiant battle, but after a stalemate between the two sides, the rebels finally broke through the line and Mutassim and other military officials were forced to flee to Sirte.
Soon after, Gaddafi and Mutassim were arrested. On 20 October, Radio Arabia broadcast live footage of the arrest of the two men, in which Qaddafi's face and upper clothes were red with blood, and his face was pale after being shot in the right arm.
Mutassim, on the other hand, wore a white vest and carried a firearm, without the slightest panic. They knew that after this arrest, death awaited them.
The last picture of Mutassim before leaving circulated on the Internet, I saw him holding a large bottle of mineral water in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other, with a hint of ease and indifference between his eyebrows.
When the rebels saw that the once-high-ranking Libyan heir had fallen into such a situation, they mocked Mutassim verbally.
"Poor worm, look at your scarred and embarrassed appearance!"
"Every wound of mine is a medal of honor, your taunts are a sign of cowardice, you should do something else." Mutasim replied.
"Pretending to be a hero when he dies ......"
A few minutes later, a burst of gunfire echoed throughout the interrogation room, and Mutassim's last photograph showed him shot in the neck and chest, covered in blood, ending the life of the Libyan heir.
Before his death, he held mineral water and cigarettes in his hands, showing indifference to death, perhaps a compromise of fate, or perhaps a detachment from everything and seeing through the essence of fate.