Gaddafi used the Tuareg as mercenaries inside of Libya. And beyond his country's borders, they became an instrument for projecting power into neighboring countries and leveraging regional fissures.

Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi; also known simply as Colonel Gaddafi; born 7 June 1942) has been the de facto leader of Libya since a coup in 1969. That's more than a decade longer than ...