Behind the Gaddafi family tree

Behind Libya's first family.

Muammar: The 68 year old is Africa and the Arab world’s longest-serving ruler, having ousted King Idris I in an peaceful coup at 27. Born in the desert town of Sirte, he’s best known in the West for a gaudy sense of style and rifle carrying posse of female guards. He preaches a dictating style that incorporates elements of Islam, and in the late 1970s invented the “Jamahiriya” system — translated as “state of the masses” — where thousands of “people’s committess” hold power. Many believe the committees are a sham.

Fatiha and Safia: Gaddafi's first wife was a schoolteacher with whom he had one son, Muhammad, before divorcing after six months. The second is the mother of seven of his biological kids and two who were adopted. One of their children died at age four during the 1986 American bombing of Tripoli.

Muhammad Al Gaddafi: His first-born son heads the Libyan Olympic committee and is Chairman of the General Post and Telecom Company.

Saif Al Islam: He wants to open Libya’s economy, is fluent in English and earned a PhD at LSE. He’s in charge of the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, which negotiates the release of hostages held by Islamic militants, and briefly left Libya in 2006 after criticising Muamar’s regime.

Saadi Gaddafi: The 36 year old son, married to a military commander’s daughter, is an ex footballer who runs the Libyan Football Federation and served as national team captain. He has poured $100m into a movie fund to shoot a remake of German thriller “The Experiment.”

Mutassim Gaddafi: A lieutenant colonel in the Libyan army, he once plotted a coup against his father, but was forgiven, returned to Libya and is now National Security Advisor, heading his own army unit.

Hannibal Gaddafi: Used to work for Libya's General National Maritime Transport Company, specializing in oil exports. He has been accused of beating his pregnant girlfriend in Paris and in 2008 was arrested in Geneva after servants accused him of assault, prompting Libya’s boycott of Swiss goods. He has described Switzerland as a “world mafia.”

Saif Al Arab: One of the youngest sons. In 2008, while a student in Munich, his Ferrari was impounded by German police because of a noisy exhaust.

Khamis Gaddafi: A police officer, he was trained in Russia and operates a special forces unit rumored to have overseen the violent suppression of protesters in Benghazi.

Ayesha Al Gaddafi: The glamorous blonde 34-year-old lawyer is married to her father’s cousin and served on Saddam Hussein’s defence team.

Milad Abuztaia Al Gaddafi: The adopted son is the one credited with saving the dictator’s life when the US attacked the Gaddafi compound in 1986.