Just where does Muammar Gaddafi fit into this history?

He bankrolled the film. Meglomaniac dictators with extremely bad taste don't have a good record in the film world but this picture seems to be the exception that proves the rule.

The London Guardian does a running piece studying the historical accuracy of a chosen film and this one is highly praised-

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2011/jun/30/lion-of-the-desert-libya-gaddafi?INTCMP=SRCH

I think Colonel Gaddafi fits into Mukhtar's legacy as an anti-colonial leader who fought for his people against the oppressors of the world. Who took back Libya's resources and wealth, and used them to benefit his people. In Gaddafi's time, all Libyans were guaranteed a share of the wealth of their country, and they had the best system of social services as well as the highest living standards on the African continent. It was a free, independent country and master of its own destiny. Moreover, Gaddafi assisted other peoples still resisting imperialism, like the Irish. All these reasons were why the imperialists hated him and spent 42 years opposing him.

Sadly, now he's gone and Libya has been conquered again. The al-Qaeda fascists working as mercenaries for the NATO colonizers have destroyed the country. Much of Libya's population has fled, to be treated like animals in Europe, by the same people who forced them from their land in the first place by destroying their home and putting criminals and warlords in power. Libya is a ruin now, it's destroyed even worse than what the Italians did to it. But it won't be that way forever. Someday a new liberation movement following the legacy of Omar Mukhtar and Muammar Gaddafi will take Libya back from the imperialists and fascists again.