In 1969 Libya's Colonel Muammar Qaddafi deposed King Idris,
leader of Sanusi, a Sufi Islamic order, in a bloodless coup. The
modern state of Libya was born after World War II with the aid
of the British government. The chief negotiator for the British
was Norman Anderson, an evangelical missionary with impeccable
skills in Arabic. Anderson had a deep respect for Islam that was
not typical of conservative Christians in his era. He developed
a relationship with King Idris and helped him forge modern-day
Libya (History Today, December).