The decision by 63 nations, Malta includ-ed, at a meeting in Paris on Thursday to release billions of euros in frozen funds for the new Libya, to maintain the military pressure on forces loyal to Gaddafi and to help set up a functioning state is a step in the right direction as the country comes to terms with its newly-found freedom.
The date of the meeting, hosted by President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron, couldn’t have been more ironic: September 1, the anniversary of the military coup which brought Gaddafi into power and ushered in 42 years of dictatorship.
Although Gaddafi, who is still in hiding, has remained defiant and vowed guerrilla warfare against the new government, the Paris summit simply reduced him to a lunatic on the fringes of this conflict, somebody who has become delusional about his prospects of returning to power.
As Gaddafi screams from his hiding place, the international community is looking ahead to help Libya have a better future and recognising the National Transitional Council as the country’s legitimate government. Just before the Paris summit Russia recognised the NTC as Libya’s “ruling authority” and sent an envoy to the meeting.
Even China sent its vice-Foreign Minister and said it “respects the Libyan people’s choice and attaches importance to the significant position and role played by the NTC”.
Significantly, Algeria, which has given refuge to Gaddafi’s wife, daughter and two of his sons “on humanitarian grounds”, and was always close to the ousted regime, also attended the Paris meeting.
Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci welcomed the NTC promise to set up a “government representative of all regions”, and added: “When it has done so, we’ll recognise it.”
Algeria, of course, played its cards badly in Libya and opposed the Nato mission. Its President, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, was Foreign Minister from 1963 to 1978 and was very close to Gaddafi in that Cold War period. Perhaps Algeria is now trying to make amends.
Unfortunately, South Africa, an important African Union player on the international stage, continued to snub the NTC and boycotted the Paris meeting. Both South Africa and the African Union behaved badly during the Libya conflict.
They were too closely allied to Gaddafi and failed to see the writing on the wall when the dictator’s time was up. They will be the losers when the new Libya takes shape.
Of course, the new Libya cannot take shape while Gaddafi and his sons are at large, and Sirte, Bani Walid, Sabha and Ghadamis remain under Gaddafi loyalists’ control. Nato is right to continue its Libya mission as long as attacks continue.
Some fears have been expressed that Gaddafi could spearhead an Iraqi-style insurgency against the new Libyan regime, which could destabilise the whole country and turn it into a failed state.
“If they want a long battle, let it be long. If Libya burns, who will be able to govern it? Let it burn”, Gaddafi is reported to have declared in a message broadcast on Syrian television.
While the threat from Gaddafi’s remaining loyalists is real, and should be taken seriously, I believe Libya’s particular circumstances are different to Iraq’s in the aftermath of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.
Libya’s new rulers have no intention of dismantling its institutions; there is no foreign occupation of Libya; it is doubtful Libya’s neighbours will want to destabilise the country by allowing foreign jihadis to cross into Libya; Libyans are all Sunni Muslims; Nato’s air strikes caused no outrage in either the Arab or Muslim world and were supported by the Arab League; and Libya’s new rulers have been preaching tolerance and forgiveness besides calling for justice.
The big question mark about Libya is what role, if any, will be played by Islamists in the new regime, who, after all, did play a part (however small) in Gaddafi’s downfall. Only time will tell, but this revolution was not inspired by the clerics, and the NTC leadership seems to be secular in orientation.
The fact that the West came to the Libyan people’s aid in their time of need, effectively preventing genocide, is an important consideration.
As Abdul Hakim al-Hasadi, a former mid-ranking member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, a jihadist organisation which has since changed its name to the Islamic Movement for Change, remarked recently: “We are not trying to establish an Islamic emirate. Our view is starting to change of the West. If we hated the Americans 100 per cent, today it is less than 50 per cent.”
Meanwhile, more and more atrocities committed by Gaddafi regime are being uncovered. The burnt skeletal remains of 45 prisoners were found in a warehouse in southern Tripoli and other bodies of detainees have also been discovered in the capital, together with a number of torture chambers used by the ousted regime. Thousands of prisoners are still unaccounted for and many people fear the worst.
Good riddance to a horrendous regime. Perhaps 14-year-old Mohammed Zintani summed up the feelings of most Libyans last week when he told a Financial Times journalist: “This is the best Eid (Muslim feast celebrating end of Ramadan) ever. It’s free and Gaddafi is out (of power). Everyone is happy, so I am happy.”