[custom_adv] His rule saw him go from revolutionary hero to international pariah, to valued strategic partner and back to pariah again. Gaddafi developed his own political philosophy, writing a book so influential - in the eyes of its author, at least - that it eclipsed anything dreamt up by Plato, Locke or Marx. [custom_adv] He made countless show-stopping appearances at Arab and international gatherings, standing out not just with his outlandish clothing, but also his blunt speeches and unconventional behaviour. [custom_adv] In the heady days of 1969 - when he seized power in a bloodless military coup - and the early 1970s, Muammar Gaddafi was a handsome and charismatic young army officer. [custom_adv] An eager disciple of President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt (he even adopted the same military rank, promoting himself from captain to colonel after the coup), Gaddafi first set about tackling the unfair economic legacy of foreign domination. [custom_adv] Significant reserves had been discovered in Libya in the late 1950s, but the extraction was controlled by foreign petroleum companies, which set prices to the advantage of their own domestic consumers and benefited from a half share in the revenue. [custom_adv] He memorably challenged foreign oil executives by telling them "people who have lived without oil for 5,000 years can live without it again for a few years in order to attain their legitimate rights". [custom_adv] The gambit succeeded and Libya became the first developing country to secure a majority share of the revenues from its own oil production. Other nations soon followed this precedent and the 1970s Arab petro-boom began.
