Dear Editor,
I endorse Prof Wazir Mohammed’s call on “thinking people to stand up for freedom in Libya” (SN, Mar 14). As I noted a few weeks ago, when the rebels had the upper hand over dictator Muammar Gaddafi, it wouldn’t be long before he unleashed his thugs to indiscriminately kill so he could hold on to power. I expected his comeback having studied his notoriety over the years. That has come to pass and Gaddafi seems to have the upper hand at the moment as his forces retake city after city using brute force.
Gaddafi is prepared to kill anyone and everyone if that is what it takes for him to remain in office, and he has shown no mercy so far to women and children. The only way out of the Libyan crisis is foreign intervention and a negotiated settlement.
He is helped at the moment by the Japanese crisis with less attention being focused on Libya. The Western powers would like to see Gaddafi out of power but they have shifted their attention to the humanitarian and nuclear disaster in Japan, giving Gaddafi a breather as he ruthlessly goes after the rebels. The rebels were naïve to think they could topple him à la Mubarak and Ben Ali of Egypt and Tunisia without outside support. Libya is a totally different type of state with no imperialist sponsors exercising influence over Gaddafi. No one can moderate his behaviour and he recognized that he would get the quiet support of the Russians from whom he got his weapons. He is his own man doing his own thing and behaving erratically with actions that do not subscribe to international norms. However, if pressured in unison by the entire Security Council of the UN with credible threats of action against him, he would be persuaded to listen. So far that has not happened. Right now, Russia and China will not back Western suggested actions like a no-fly zone. The French proposal to de-recognize Gaddafi won’t work as other countries won’t go along, for they know the rag-tag rebels are not united and won’t hold up against the superior Gaddafi mercenaries.
Gaddafi won’t listen to the West but he may very well be prepared to listen to the Russians and Chinese if they put pressure on him to take measures to avert a humanitarian crisis in Libya. The killings should stop in Libya and people allowed to return to their normal lives. The country is sliding towards a protracted military campaign that will only benefit Gadafi, as it is doubtful the rebels will regain the momentum unless the mercenaries abandon him.
A negotiated settlement that does not exclude the Russians may be the only way out to prevent Libya from sliding into total chaos and a humanitarian disaster.
Gaddafi will continue to use violence against Libyans until he is stopped. As Prof Wazir wrote, we must stand with the people against this and other tyrants in the Middle East and Africa bent on using arms against their people to retain power.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
