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Khweldi Hameidi

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Khweldi Hameidi
BornJanuary 1943
Surman, Italian Libya
Died27 July 2015(2015-07-27) (aged 72)
Cairo, Egypt
OccupationGeneral
SpouseAisha
RelativesKhaled K. El-Hamedi (son)
Al-Saadi Gaddafi (son-in-law)

Al-Khweldi Muhammad Salih Abdullah El-Hamedi (Arabic: الخويلدي محمد الحميدي; January 1943 – 27 July 2015), also transliterated as Khuwailidi al-Humaidi, was a Libyan major general under Muammar Gaddafi, founding member of the Libyan Revolutionary Command Council.[1][2] He was part of Gaddafi's inner circle.[3] After the fall of Gaddafi, Hameidi went into exile. He associated with other Gaddafi loyalists and was the first Secretary General of the Libyan Popular National Movement.

Biography

Early life and education

Hameidi was born in Surman in January 1943.[1] His father owned a farm between Surman and Sabratha.[4] He attended primary school in Surman, secondary school in Zawiya, and graduated from the Benghazi Military University Academy as a second lieutenant in 1965.[1] His first military assignment was with the Royal Battalion in Derna. He was subsequently appointed assistant commander of the 1st Idris Battalion in Sabha and later Tarhuna.[1]

Personal life

He married his cousin Aisha al-Hamidi in 1970. His wife was a history professor and earned a master's degree from the Al-Fateh University in Tripoli.[1] They had six daughters and three sons, including Khaled K. El-Hamedi, the president of Libyan NGO, International Organization for Peace, Care and Relief.[5] One of his daughters is married to Gaddafi's son Al-Saadi Gaddafi.[6][7]

He was an avid collector of arts, including Chinese porcelain and African ebony sculptures. He also had a passion for raising animals, such as falconry, Arabian horses, deer, and songbirds.[8]

Career under Gaddafi

Hameidi played a leading role in the 1969 Libyan coup d'état that overthrew King Idris and brought Muammar Gaddafi to power. Hameidi was specifically tasked with seizing the radio station in Tripoli and arresting the crown prince Hasan as-Senussi.[9][2] After the successful coup, Hameidi was part of the twelve men that formed the Libyan Revolutionary Command Council (RCC).[10]

In the summer of 1975, Planning Minister Umar Muhayshi, Bashir al-Saghir Hawady, and Awad Ali Hamza, who were all part of the 12-member RCC, led a coup against Gaddafi.[11] The coup failed; Muhayshi fled to Tunisia and another RCC member suspected of disloyalty, Abdul-Munim al-Huni, fled to Egypt.[12][13] Hawady and Hamza were arrested.[11] The RCC was ultimately reduced to only five members: Gaddafi, Abdessalam Jalloud, Abu-Bakr Yunis Jabr, Mustafa Kharubi, and Hameidi. All five were from poor or lower-middle-class background.[14][15][16]

Hameidi served as interior minister, chief of military intelligence, and head of the military courts in the Gaddafi government.[2][1] He was also a member of General Provisional Committee for Defense.[3]

Libyan Civil War

When the First Libyan Civil War broke out in February 2011, Hameidi did not hold any official political or executive office as he was retired. He did, however, continue to enjoy a close personal relationship with Gaddafi due to his daughter's marriage to Gaddafi's son Saadi.[17] Hameidi reportedly received a field command in Zawiya during the civil war.[2][18]

Due to his perceived closeness with the Gaddafi family and his refusal to defect, Hameidi and his family became a target for NATO during its military intervention in Libya. His home, located near Surman, was bombed by NATO on 19 June 2011, which resulted in the death of his daughter-in-law and three grandchildren.[19][18] A total of 15 family members, including three children, were killed by NATO's bombs.[20][21][8] NATO claimed his home was being used as a "command center" by Gaddafi and thus a legitimate target.[17][8] Hameidi's son Khaled claimed NATO had tried to assassinate Khweldi Hameidi in order to demoralize the Gaddafi regime.[20]

After the Battle of Tripoli, Hameidi fled to Tunisia, where he suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized in Tunis. Tunisia accused him of entering the country illegally.[17]

Exile

Hameidi never stood trial in Tunisia and was not deported to Libya. He reportedly spent time in Morocco before settling in Egypt. In February 2012, the Libyan Popular National Movement was founded by Gaddafi loyalists in exile and Hameidi served as its first Secretary General. The party was banned from participating in the 2012 Libyan parliamentary election.[22][2] Hameidi suffered another heart attack and died in Cairo on 27 July 2015. He was 72.[2][23]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "El-khweldi - Elhamedi". 3 January 2022. Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Ash, Nigel (27 July 2015). "Qaddafi collaborator Khuwaildi Al-Hamidi dies of heart attack". Libya Herald. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Inside Gaddafi's inner circle". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  4. ↑ al-Araby, Muhammad (27 July 2015). "أنباء عن وفاة الخويلدي الحميدي أبرز أركان حكم القذافي". Al-Arabiya (in العربية). Retrieved 22 November 2025.
  5. ↑ "Khaled Hamedi". OCCRP. Retrieved 17 July 2026.
  6. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named :12
  7. ↑ "INVISIBLE DOG - KHADAFI'S LIBYA AND TODAY'S LIBYA". www.invisible-dog.com. Archived from the original on 30 November 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2026.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "A man of peace or a henchman?". The Seattle Times. Los Angeles Times. 20 June 2011. Archived from the original on 13 February 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2026.
  9. ↑ Harris 1986, p. 14; Blundy & Lycett 1987, pp. 57–59; Simons 1996, pp. 177–178; Kawczynski 2011, p. 18.
  10. ↑ "Libya Names 12 Members Of Revolutionary Counci". The New York Times. Reuters. 11 January 1970. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Refworld | Libya: The role of Omar al-Meheshi in Colonel Qaddafi's revolution; his activities in the 1975 coup attempt and in developing opposition movements in Morocco and Egypt (1969 - present)". Refworld. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Archived from the original on 6 October 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2026.
  12. ↑ "Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume E–9, Part 1, Documents on North Africa, 1973–1976 - Office of the Historian". history.state.gov. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  13. ↑ "Libya - Exiled Opposition". www.country-data.com. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  14. ↑ Ufheil-Somers, Amanda (4 November 1986). "Libya's Revolution Revisited". Middle East Research and Information Project. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  15. ↑ Ash, Nigel (17 July 2015). "Cancer kills top Qaddafi aide ten days before trial verdict". Libya Herald. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  16. ↑ "اكتشف 10 معلومات عن اللواء مصطفى الخروبي". www.afrigatenews.net (in العربية). Archived from the original on 2 June 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 "Gaddafi threatened to wipe my hometown off the map – Jailed Libyan official". eng-archive.aawsat.com. 10 September 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2026.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Hopkins, Nick (21 June 2011). "Libya says new Nato missile attack killed three children". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  19. ↑ Graff, Peter (20 June 2011). "Fresh Libya civilian deaths pile pressure on NATO". Reuters. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "Khalid al-Khuwaildi al-Humaidi: Prosecuting NATO for War Crimes in Libya". Herland Report. 15 November 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  21. ↑ Lamb, Franklin (17 December 2011). "Anatomy Of A NATO War Crime By Franklin Lamb". countercurrents.org. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  22. ↑ Prashad, Vijay (28 October 2015). "The detritus of regime change in Libya". The New Arab. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  23. ↑ Nader, Emir (28 July 2015). "Prominent Gaddafi ally dies in Cairo". Daily News Egypt. Retrieved 1 March 2026.

Works cited

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