MUAMMAR QADDAFI: 40 years, 6 months. Mr. Qaddafi seized power in a bloodless military coup in September 1969. Thanks to sitting on top of Africa's largest proven oil reserves, he is used to throwing his weight around internationally, and usually gets what he wants. He had himself introduced at the 2009 UN General Assembly General Assembly Hall as the “leader of the revolution, the president of the African Union, the king of kings of Africa.”
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