As the ruler of Libya, Muammar Gaddafi sponsored several assassinations throughout the 1980s until the end of the regime in 2011, particularly in the "Stray Dogs" campaign targeting Libyan dissidents and exiles. Amnesty International reported that between 1980 and 1987, a total of 25 political opponents were assassinated outside of the country in 37 attacks.
Assassinations +TargetNationalityPositionDateCityCountryPerpetratorMethodMohamed Salem RtemiBusinessman.21 March 1980RomeLibyan hitmen.Shot to death.Mohammed Mustafa RamadanJournalist.11 April 1980LondonShooting.Aref Abdul GelieBusinessman.19 April 1980RomeShooting.Abdullatif MuntasserRelative of opposition leader Omar Al Muheisi.21 April 1980BeirutShot to death.Mahmud Abu Salem FafaLawyer25 April 1980LondonShooting.Abdallah Mohamed al-KazmiDissident.10 May 1980RomeShooting.Omran el MehdawiFormer diplomat at the Libyan Embassy in Bonn.BonnBashir Ehmida.Shooting.Mohamed Fouad BuohjarMerchant.20 May 1980RomeLibyan revolutionary committee.Strangled and stabbed.Mohammed Lahderi AzzedinBusinessman.11 June 1980MilanLibyan hitmen.Shooting.Abdul Rahman Abu Bakr el KimyasJunior Libyan army officer.21 May 1980AthensThroat slashed.Ahmed Mustapha Grea'aUniversity Student.29 November 1980ManchesterStabbed to death.Umar MuhayshiLibyan army officer, member of the Libyan Revolutionary Command Council.January 1984TripoliSa'eed Rashid.Tortured or beaten to death.Yvonne FletcherPolice officer.17 April 1984LondonGunman in Libyan embassy.Shooting.Ahmed Rafiq al-BarraniBusinessman.2 April 1985NicosiaLibyan hitmen.Shooting.Gebril Abdul Raziq al-DinaliFormer police officer and opposition leader.6 April 1985BonnFatahi El Tarhoni.Shooting.Muhammad FehaimaDissident.7 January 1987AthensLibyan hitmen.Shot to death.Youssef KherbishMember of the National Front for the Salvation of Libya.26 June 1987RomeShooting.Mansour Rashid KikhiaLibyan Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1972–1973, Libyan Ambassador to the United Nations, Permanent Libyan Representative to the United Nations from 1975–1980.Disappeared 10 December 1993CairoUnknown.Unknown.Daif al-GhazalOpposition journalist.21 May 2005BenghaziSuspected members of the Revolutionary Guard.Torture murder.Mohammed NabbousInformation technologist, blogger, businessperson and civilian journalist.19 March 2011BenghaziPro-Gaddafi militia.Shot with sniper rifle.
Attempted assassinations +TargetNationalityPositionDateCityCountryPerpetratorMethodUmar MuhayshiLibyan army officer, member of the Libyan Revolutionary Command Council.1976CairoCuban exiles contracted by ex-CIA officers Edwin P. Wilson and Frank Terpil.Unspecified.Salem Mohammad Fezzani / Restaurant owner,21 May 1980RomeUnidentified gunman.Shooting.Mohamed Saad BekhitUnspecified.11 June 1980Unidentified gunman.Shooting.Faisal ZagallaiStudent dissident.14 October 1980Fort CollinsEugene Tafoya.Shooting.Karim and Souad KassudaChildren of Libyan dissident Farad Kassuda.11 November 1980PortsmouthUnspecified Libyan man.Poisoning.Abdel Hamid BakkushFormer Prime Minister of Libya.November 1984CairoAnthony Gill, Godfrey Philip Chiner and two Maltese operatives.Shooting.Ezzedin al-GhadamsiLibyan ambassador to Austria.28 February 1985ViennaUnidentified gunman.Shooting.20 May 1987Mohammed El-Hak.Shooting.Hosni MubarakPresident of Egypt.1989Addis AbabaUnspecified Libyan assassin.Unspecified.Abdullah of Saudi ArabiaCrown Prince of Saudia Arabia2003MeccaAbdurahman Alamoudi and Mohamed Ismael.Shoulder-fired missiles (alleged).
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