Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- For 42 years, Moammar Gadhafi ruled Libya with an iron fist, a mercurial leader who inspired fear in Libya and beyond. Now he's on the run, hunted by rebels who made a lightning advance into Tripoli. The rebels overran Gadhafi's compound and are scouring the country for signs of the leader, who has not been seen in public for weeks. On Thursday, a radio station aired a defiant message, purportedly from Gadhafi, but most other signs point to the end of Gadhafi's long rule. The 69-year-old strongman came to power in a bloodless coup against King Idris in 1969, when he was just an army captain.
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Moammar Gadhafi came into a power in a bloodless coup against King Idris in 1969
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By 1972, he was urging Muslims to fight Western powers, including the U.K. and U.S.
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Decades later, he appeared to moderate and seek rapprochement with the West
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The movement to unseat him began in February, centered first in Benghazi
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Recent advances allowed them to cut off some key supply routes for @placeholder, bringing them closest yet to their goal, and by August 21, they had broken through into the capital.