It was an annus horriblis for tyrants and despots

Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak. Osama bin Laden. Libya’s Moammar Gaddafi. North Korea’s Kim Jong-il. Whether by natural or unnatural causes, it was not a good year to be a dictator or a tyrant.

The Washington Post takes a look back at those leaders who ruled with an iron grip for years, and more often, decades, but left the world stage in 2011.