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Bab al-Azizia
Bab al-Azizia (Arabic: باب العزيزية, romanized: Bāb al ‘Azīzīyah, Libyan pronunciation: [bæːb əl ʕæziːˈzijjæ], lit. 'The Splendid Gate') was a military barracks and compound situated in the southern suburbs of Tripoli, the capital of Libya. It served as the main base for the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi until its capture by anti-Gaddafi forces on 23 August 2011, during the Battle of Tripoli in the Libyan Civil War.
The 6-square-kilometre (2.3 sq mi) base is strategically located south of Tripoli city center at the northern end of Airport Highway, allowing easy access to government assets within the city as well as direct high-speed road access to Tripoli International Airport.
After the Libyan Civil War, the compound was partially demolished. Some parts of it remain today, albeit in disrepair. The plan, however, is to eventually demolish the entire compound and turn it into a park to be “enjoyed by people of Tripoli and guests”.
Originally an Italian army base before and during World War II, the barracks were occupied by British forces in 1948. The compound was rebuilt by King Idris, the previous ruler of Libya. Gaddafi reinforced and expanded the compound in the 1980s with the help of foreign contractors. It was surrounded by three concrete walls, each with slits for weapons. The walls were estimated to be four-meters high and one meter thick with complicated gate structures. Inside, there were fields with trees, access to water, Gaddafi's private residence, and a number of military barracks used by troops led by Gaddafi's sons. Also, on the property was a mosque, a football pitch, a swimming pool, communications center and other administrative structures with roadways. The interior walls were lower and surrounded a more secure area with guards and metal detectors.
The buildings were connected by extensive networks of tunnels that lead to adjoining districts and possibly stretched to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, which is 3.2 kilometres (2.0 mi) away, and elsewhere in the city of Tripoli. Gaddafi lived in a Bedouin-style air-conditioned tent on the grounds, which he occasionally pitched in the cities he visited. In 2009, he attempted to camp in Central Park, when he was in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. On a visit to Russia, the tent was pitched in a garden at the Kremlin.
Within the barracks there were facilities for banquets and other public events like pro-Gaddafi rallies. It was described by US intelligence reports published via WikiLeaks as "not lavish in any way compared with the ostentation of the Gulf-oil-state families or Hariri clan [in Lebanon]."
On 8 May 1984, the compound witnessed a coup attempt by the National Front for the Salvation of Libya.
The site was the main target of the 15 April 1986 United States bombing of Libya, authorized by U.S. President Ronald Reagan, in response to the West Berlin discotheque bombing by the Libyan government.
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Bab al-Azizia
Bab al-Azizia (Arabic: باب العزيزية, romanized: Bāb al ‘Azīzīyah, Libyan pronunciation: [bæːb əl ʕæziːˈzijjæ], lit. 'The Splendid Gate') was a military barracks and compound situated in the southern suburbs of Tripoli, the capital of Libya. It served as the main base for the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi until its capture by anti-Gaddafi forces on 23 August 2011, during the Battle of Tripoli in the Libyan Civil War.
The 6-square-kilometre (2.3 sq mi) base is strategically located south of Tripoli city center at the northern end of Airport Highway, allowing easy access to government assets within the city as well as direct high-speed road access to Tripoli International Airport.
After the Libyan Civil War, the compound was partially demolished. Some parts of it remain today, albeit in disrepair. The plan, however, is to eventually demolish the entire compound and turn it into a park to be “enjoyed by people of Tripoli and guests”.
Originally an Italian army base before and during World War II, the barracks were occupied by British forces in 1948. The compound was rebuilt by King Idris, the previous ruler of Libya. Gaddafi reinforced and expanded the compound in the 1980s with the help of foreign contractors. It was surrounded by three concrete walls, each with slits for weapons. The walls were estimated to be four-meters high and one meter thick with complicated gate structures. Inside, there were fields with trees, access to water, Gaddafi's private residence, and a number of military barracks used by troops led by Gaddafi's sons. Also, on the property was a mosque, a football pitch, a swimming pool, communications center and other administrative structures with roadways. The interior walls were lower and surrounded a more secure area with guards and metal detectors.
The buildings were connected by extensive networks of tunnels that lead to adjoining districts and possibly stretched to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, which is 3.2 kilometres (2.0 mi) away, and elsewhere in the city of Tripoli. Gaddafi lived in a Bedouin-style air-conditioned tent on the grounds, which he occasionally pitched in the cities he visited. In 2009, he attempted to camp in Central Park, when he was in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. On a visit to Russia, the tent was pitched in a garden at the Kremlin.
Within the barracks there were facilities for banquets and other public events like pro-Gaddafi rallies. It was described by US intelligence reports published via WikiLeaks as "not lavish in any way compared with the ostentation of the Gulf-oil-state families or Hariri clan [in Lebanon]."
On 8 May 1984, the compound witnessed a coup attempt by the National Front for the Salvation of Libya.
The site was the main target of the 15 April 1986 United States bombing of Libya, authorized by U.S. President Ronald Reagan, in response to the West Berlin discotheque bombing by the Libyan government.
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