Gaddafi's death: pick of the comment
A selection of commentary at home and abroad.
By Samira Shackle Published 21 October 2011 16:09
New York Times
An editorial expresses discomfort at the way the dictator died, and urges the National Transitional Council to include former Gaddafi loyalists in the new Libya.
Libyans must resist further reprisals and channel their passion into building a united, free and productive country. If not, they risk even more chaos and suffering.
Guardian
Abdel Bari Atwan, editor of London-based pan-Arab newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi, outlines the many challenges that lie ahead -- including conflict between Islamists and secular liberals, communication problems across Libya's vast expanse, and continuing tribal loyalty to Gaddafi.
Another challenge will be how to achieve and maintain independence from foreign interference, especially given Nato's involvement in the uprising. Libya's oil reserves are the largest in Africa, and a tempting prize for energy-hungry world powers. Furthermore, Libya has no history of democracy and lacks even the most embryonic social institutions to administer such a system. This is not to say that it cannot meet the challenge, but simply that this is nation-building from scratch.
The National
An editorial stresses the importance of reconciliation with tribes that remained loyal to Gaddafi until the end.
The purges after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime swelled the ranks of insurgents on the battlefield and crippled the civilian government. That would be a similar disaster in Libya, where major tribes remained loyal to the regime. The National Transition Council has made the right statements about reconciliation and now it needs to follow through.
Daily Telegraph
Regime change is the easy bit, says Peter Oborne -- now is the moment of truth, with different militia groups jostling to own the revolution. He warns that Libya's abundance of weaponry is a serious concern.
Already the armaments stockpiled by Gaddafi are pouring into neighbouring countries through Libya's porous and unpoliced borders, a potent menace in a region already destabilised by popular revolutions and the rise of al-Qaeda through the Maghreb.
Independent
Robert Fisk highlights the hypocrisy of the west's changing attitudes to Gaddadi.
So he is gone, the colonel who was once beloved of the Foreign Office (after the coup against King Idris), then guarded as a "safe pair of hands", then loathed because he sent weapons to the IRA, then loved, etc, etc. Can you blame the man for thinking he was a good guy?
Al-Jazeera
Cambridge lecturer Tarak Barkawi places Libya's next chapter in the context of post-colonialism and ongoing conflict.
Like Iraq, Libya was assembled through histories of empire and its aftermath. It has been torn apart by war. Now it has lost the one thing that united much of the country: hatred of Colonel Gaddafi and his regime. Libyans are left to face the legacy of his mastery of the art of divide and rule.
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12 comments
The 'Bushes' would have been the first to face ICC but because of Americas manipulations, the will always have explanations. Where are the weapons of mass destruction? We are waiting to see them. Better think twice because what ever you are doing, you will surely pay for it. May Gadafi's and Saddam's souls rest in peace. 'Americans and their Allies must first remove the logs in their eyes before removing the pecks in the eyes of African leaders'. http://www.online-legal-info.com/
If the gaddafi family want his body, tell them thay can have it in exchange for all the money & proprty they have stolen over the years & have locked away.
Afganistan, Iraq , Libya . Where next for America and it's so call alias? No rigth thinking person will claim victory in the babarick way Gadafi and his people were murdered by Nato assisted rebel.
there was room for negotiation. Always is, if you take time for it. It's sad to see a person brutally murdered, and have people celebrate it. So what do I think now? Libya likes this?
The so called ICC and Democracy are useless. It is something by the so called super powers to Oppress us in name of ridding us off dictatorship. We are comfortable in our own African poverty as you may think. First of all West are the worst oppresors. Recall what you did in S. Africa, Bush what did you do to Iraq, Afgan and many more. The 'Bushes' would have been the first to face ICC but because of Americas manipulations, the will always have explanations. Where are the weapons of mass destruction? We are waiting to see them. Better think twice because what ever you are doing, you will surely pay for it. May Gadafi's and Saddam's souls rest in peace. 'Americans and their Allies must first remove the logs in their eyes before removing the pecks in the eyes of African leaders'
Fuck all libyan's who turn their back against Ghadhafi upon all the good deeds he did for his people don't no nations in the world do benefits what Ghadhafi is providing for is people but no matter what someday we all gonna die. but libyan's should understand that there will always be calamity upon the them for betraying Ghadhafi insha allah,u can kill the body but not his soul, may his soul rest in perfect peace!
AS ALWAYS, the 3rd worlders, show their essential cultural differences with the WESTERN-CHRISTIAN-CULTURED peoples.
AS ALWAYS, they see no 'evil' among their own kind.
These clowns here, write as though WE in the western world, are as stupidly blind and ignorant as they are.
DO THEY THINK THAT, WE HAVE FORGOTTEN THE ENTIRE SPECTRUM OF MOSLEM-ATROCITY, against the non-moslem world for the last 60years.
Please TELL ME, AND MY KIND, you ethnic-3rd world people.
One SINGLE INVENTION, MEDICAL-ADVANCE, ONE SINGLE ACT OF GENEROSITY BY THE ENTIRETY OF THE MOSLEM WORLD,
To the World of Humanity in general, and the moslems themselves.
for example garbage-arafat stole $20,000,000 of CHRISTIAN EUROPE DONATED AID, from the mouths of his own people in palestine.
Please, you ethnic-3rd worlders out there,
just A SINGLE EXAMPLE, to give me hope that there are moslems, other than the terrorist supporters across the non-moslem world
Goodbye, free medical care, free education, and longest life expectancy.
Welcome to democracy. Now you can think and speak free as long as it is in USA favor. If you don't have what to eat, who care - you are free.
lybia was doing good despite his long stay in power. he didnt deserve to die with out a trial, had he killed more people than bush n shoron,? i mean he was simply defending him self from the crucks. and the energy gridy thieves.
some times other nations should mind their own problem for example stabilize their economies the way china is doing
May God let libya be in peace for now ,the most dangerious people in this world is arab in libya stop killing our black brothers now very boody is one now
Otherwise they would really buy the african oil by paying dollar
Kim Jong Il, North Korea (in power since 1994)
Than Shwe, Burma (in power since 1992)
Hu Jintao, China (in power since 2002)
Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe (in power since 1980)
Crown Prince Abdullah, Saudi Arabia (in power since 1995)
Teodoro Obiang Nguema, Equatorial Guinea (in power since 1979)
Omar Al-Bashir, Sudan (in power since 1989)
Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan (in power since 1990)
Fidel Castro, Cuba (in power since 1959)
King Mswati III, Swaziland (in power since 1986)
The West will not do anything to the dictator’s above. Ask yourself why, read about each of the above men and they will make Gaddafi look like a saint (Don’t get me wrong, I think Gaddafi needed to go but by trial not murder). It may not have been the west who pulled the trigger but most defiantly it was the west’s gun. This was a setup right from the start; Watch the trouble that comes next to Libya and to its people, where will the USA, France and the UK be then. They will always have justification for these actions, and we will always have to stand by and watch as they do whatever they want. Such a sad day for mankind