Monday, February 21, 2011

Colonel Gaddafi on the run: Dictator flees Tripoli as protesters set the Libyan parliament building alight and control large sections of the country
















Dear All

Across the Middle East, the flames of people power are burning out of control; the reasons are complex and not new, oppression, bad living conditions, unemployment and no hope.

Libya is the next country to seemly fall to the people.

Col Muammar Gaddafi's regime is under extreme pressure amid unprecedented protests in the Libyan capital.

Gaddafi is believed to have fled the capital Tripoli, he has seen the writing on the wall, anti-government demonstrators breached the state television building and are setting government property alight.

Security forces fired live ammunition and tear gas on protesters in the streets of Tripoli late on Sunday.

Benghazi, the country's second city, has fallen to the control of protesters.

Col Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam is warning of civil war which could ignite at any moment.

In a lengthy TV address, he offered political reforms but also vowed that the regime would "fight to the last bullet" against "seditious elements".

Sounds like Saddam rhetoric and when push comes to shove, the Iraqi regime collapsed quickly enough.

The eastern city al-Bayda had fallen to the opposition.

Justice Minister Mustapha Abdul Jalil has become the latest senior official to resign.

He quit saying that he leaving because of the "excessive use of violence".

Almost all major tribal leaders seem to have joined the opposition, as well as important religious leaders and several senior Libyan ambassadors.

This is like a flood but a flood can be directed if the will is there, it is increasingly likely that the country will fall.

When the first shot killed a protestor, the regime became untenable, putting foreign mercenaries on the streets which lead to massacres was an unforgiveable mistake; there is no going back from that.

The best option is for Col Muammar Gaddafi to transfer power over to the military so that law and order can be re-established and that there is a clear undertaking that free and fair elections are held.

Libya like Egypt is changing direction; the important thing is not to let the country slide into chaos.

The people need to stop and have a moment of pause, the destroying of government buildings must stop or the entire country will be plunged into an age of darkness.

You can’t have governance without redress to law and advocacy.

One can only wonder what will happen when this hits Saudi Arabia!

People deserve the right to chose their leaders, interesting times ahead, there is a new deal in the desert.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

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