By Rama Valayden Senior Counsel
On 20th of October 2011, Colonel Muammar Kaddafi, whom I have admired since I was ten years old, was brutally dragged from a drain pipe, tortured and killed.
Muammar Kaddafi, self-proclaimed brother leader, overthrew a dictator King promised a country governed by the people, met his end at the hands of a new generation of revolutionaries after 42 years of rule – brutal for the west, revolutionary for liberation movements round the globe – in that context, it is enriching to watch film “The big picture – the lust for Libya”.
Was Kaddafi overthrown following the rising of the Libyan masses or was he simply overturned by external factors monitored by Nato.
True it is, when the population started to revolt, fomenting by western powers – the Kaddafi regime tried to snuff out the protests in a brutal fashion in a way that sparked even more protest, fuelled by western forces and financed by Nato. Nato did not hesitate to bomb Tripoli and used all sorts of stratagems to trace and kill Kaddafi.
The positives of Kaddafi
Kaddafi, despite his authoritarianism – prevented the rise of armed militias, and succeeded – where others failed – to prevent the spread of extremists like Al-Quaeda and ISIS, who after the fall of Kaddafi gained a foothold.
Economic Welfare
Under the rule of Kaddafi, Libya possessed the highest human development index in Africa. Citizens enjoyed high living standards with free education, free healthcare, subsidised housing (for orphans free housing) subsidised electricity and gas.
Independence of Libya
Kaddafi did not let anybody (foreign power or foreign company) get a grip on Libya’s oil wealth and systematically refused to open it to western companies. Kaddafi was strongly pushing for a gold backed African currency (gold dinar) to replace the CFA Franc and the dollar (thus the hatred of America and France for him) and wanted to increase independence for African nations.
Pan Africanism
Kaddafi is one of the rare African leaders who not only opened his mouth but acted decisively. Kaddafi was a key financier of the African Union (in itself a sufficient reason for the west to get rid of him... Remember Patrice Lumumba who was killed by the west and body dissolved in concentrated hydrochloric acid). Kaddafi was a vocal supporter of a “United States of Africa”.
Kaddafi supported various liberation movements round the world (from ANC, SWAPO, the moro movement, IRA and so many others)
Where is Libya today?
The aftermath of Kaddafi’s death, however, saw Libya descend into a failed State with competing military groups controlled by western powers, foreign occupation, and slave market, women subject to quasi-slavery…
The Kaddafi’s philosophy of politics was encapsulated in his green book. Kaddafi expounded in his green book the principle of government by the masses. The green book was a very short book published in 1975 and was inspired by the little red book (quotations from Chairman Mao Tse Toung).
Kaddafi is equal to Castro in the number of attempts to his life by the CIA, Mossad and other western forces.
But why did the “puppets of the west” assassinated Kaddafi’s second son Saif Al Islam Muammar? Kaddafi had ten sons, many among them were adopted.
Saif Islam Kaddafi was assassinated by mercenaries because he was becoming more and more popular across Libya. He was killed in the western city of Zintan.
He was plotting a return to politics via the polls. Saif Al Islam was assassinated by four masked men who broke into his house in Zintan.
Remember that Muammar Kaddafi stated that he was ready to organise general elections under the supervision of the western powers within two months and swear on the Holy Qur’an that if he does not win, he will step down on the day the results are proclaimed.
Nato rejected the offer of Muammar Kaddafi and the bombardment of Libya continued.
After the fall of his father, Saif Al Islam was arrested, tortured and sentenced to death in Abstentia. However, in 2017, Saif Al Islam was released by the Abu Bakr Siddiq Battalion, a militia that controlled Zintan and was given an amnesty so as to quell the growing discontent among the population. Saif Al Islam was preparing a political comeback on a radical manifesto which was not for the pleasure of western powers.
Saif Islam was banned from taking part in general elections but later following popular support specially in the region surrounding Sirte was reinstated to stand as candidate for the presidential elections.
The “contributions” of Saif Islam Kaddafi to Libya are numerous:
• Saif Islam was pivotal in banning atomic bomb projects in Libya.
• Saif Islam successfully negotiated the compensation for the families of victims of lockerbie bombing, the Berlin night club attack, the UTA flight 772 which detonated over the Sahara Desert.
• Mediated the release of six medics-five of whom were Bulgarians who were accused of infecting children with HIV in Libya in the 1990s.
• “Irsatine” a proposal for a permanent resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict through a secular one state solution.
• He was instrumental to the peace talks between the Moro Islamic Liberation front and the Philippine government which peace agreement was signed in 2001.
Saif Al Islam was killed because he was going to win the general elections. The west, especially Israel don’t want to have a new thorn in their flesh.
The manner in which Saif Al Islam was killed smacks a Mossad coup…
I am sure the true parties will never be arrested or if arrested will be freed…
The west wants the middle east to be subservient to their interests only.
J'aime
