Overthrow and Exile
Further information: Libyan coup d'etat (1969)On 1 September 1969, while Idris was in Turkey for medical treatment, he was deposed in a coup by a group of Libyan army officers under the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi. The monarchy was abolished and a republic proclaimed. The coup pre-empted Idris' abdication and the succession of his heir the following day. From Turkey, he and the queen travelled to Kamena Vourla, Greece, by ship and went into exile in Egypt. After the coup of 1969, Idris was placed on trial in absentia in the Libyan People's Court and sentenced to death in November 1971.
Idris died at the Sultan Palace in Dokki, Cairo in 1983, aged 94. He was buried at Jannat al-Baqi, Medina, Saudi Arabia.
Read more about this topic: Idris Of Libya
Famous quotes containing the words overthrow and/or exile:
“There is something singularly grand and impressive in the sound of a tree falling in a perfectly calm night like this, as if the agencies which overthrow it did not need to be excited, but worked with a subtle, deliberate, and conscious force, like a boa-constrictor, and more effectively then than even in a windy day.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The exile is a singular, whereas refugees tend to be thought of in the mass. Armenian refugees, Jewish refugees, refugees from Franco Spain. But a political leader or artistic figure is an exile. Thomas Mann yesterday, Theodorakis today. Exile is the noble and dignified term, while a refugee is more hapless.... What is implied in these nuances of social standing is the respect we pay to choice. The exile appears to have made a decision, while the refugee is the very image of helplessness.”
—Mary McCarthy (1912–1989)