Brutal end
''Gadhafi should have been tried in a court.''
The death of Libyan president Muammar Gadhafi brings to an end a brutal era in Libya’s history. Gadhafi’s 42-year-rule was corrupt, authoritarian and distinctly unpleasant for the Libyan people. Given Libya’s immense oil resources, every Libyan could have been prosperous. But Gaddafi was preoccupied with building his personal fortune, self-aggrandisement and silencing dissent.
This and his bizarre, often brutal administration brought untold misery to the Libyan masses. His death therefore will be mourned only by his cronies and clansmen. However, the manner in which his end came is reason for concern. The Libyan leader was reportedly injured in a Nato bombing of Sirte.
But he was caught alive and then brutally shot dead. He should have been made to face trial in a court. His death has been received with a huge sigh of relief from several western governments, which, ironically, supported many dictators including Gadhafi, as long as it suited them. Had Gadhafi stood trial he would have made embarrassing revelations of how western oil companies and governments struck murky deals with him to access Libya’s oil.
It is well known that it was the west’s bankrolling of Gadhafi that provided him with the resources with which to tighten his iron grip on the Libyan people. His execution has ensured that awkward details of these dirty secrets will now not come out.
What now for Libya? Gadhafi’s exit can be expected to provide a spurt to infighting among his enemies, who are now part of the National Transitional Council. Hatred of Gaddafi held them together. With him gone,underlying cracks in the coalition will reappear. A bitter and bloody power struggle is likely to break out. More importantly, the spectre of Libya splintering along regional lines looms.
It was with an eye on Libya’s oil that Nato provided massive military support to the Libyan rebels to oust Gadhafi. The vultures will now descend on Libya and its oil wealth.
Nato governments will snap up projects to rebuild a Libya they destroyed. An era might have ended for Libya with Gadhafi’s exit but things are unlikely to improve for its people. Deals between their new rulers and the west will keep them from prospering out of their country’s oil wealth. It seems the more things change, the more they remain the same.
