Since he cracked down on protesters last week, Qaddafi has been under fire from the international community as well as his own country鈥檚 diplomats, who've deserted him en masse. He doesn鈥檛 seem to be bending right now, but he has ceded to international pressure in the past.
In 1988, PanAm flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, in an incident known as the Lockerbie Bombing. in the attack, but Qaddafi denied Libyan involvement, earning the country United Nations sanctions and international pariah status. Qaddafi formally admitted responsibility in 2003 and said Libya would compensate the families of those who died in the incident 鈥� .
That same year, Qaddafi agreed to give up Libya鈥檚 nuclear weapons program, a move that ended his isolation from the US. Former President George W. Bush formally ended the US trade embargo on Libya in 2004, allowing the country鈥檚 economy 鈥� particularly the oil sector 鈥� to flourish.
