After 42 years, Muammar Gaddafi, the ruler of the Libyan oil rich nation and the Arab world’s longest-ruling leader, lost his hold on power after a six-month uprising. After leading a successful military coup in 1969, Gaddafi styled himself as Libya’s “brother leader” and the “guide of the revolution”, an almost fatherly figure looking after Libya’s six million inhabitants.

Gaddafi came to power in 1969 at the age of 27 after leading the so-called Green Revolution against King Idris. Since Gaddafi’s revolution, the dictatorial regime has imprisoned thousands of people, while hundreds were tortured and sentenced to death because they opposed Gaddafi’s rule of law! According to Human Rights Watch, Gaddafi massacred hundreds of prisoners in the cruelest way in the Abu Salim prison. These prisoners were already in jail and unarmed but they were executed in just a couple of hours.

The Libyan revolutionaries were inspired by successful uprisings in the neighbouring countries of Tunisia and Egypt, and in February of this year they began to hold protests against the 42-year-old Libyan dictatorial regime in the eastern city of Benghazi. The Libyan National Transitional Council and its rebel fighters fought fierce battles and offered thousands of martyrs to overthrow the Gaddafi tyrannical regime. The rebels’ opposition is made up of different political ideas, but they are all united under the banner of hatred and hostility resulting from 42 years of violent persecution. Notwithstanding the mixed background of the rebels, they all want to transfer Libya from the Middle Ages in which it currently lives to modern times. Development, democracy, human rights, social justice, and fair distribution of wealth in conformity with modern plans will put the country in the place it deserves.

In the face of these protests, Al Gaddafi threatened the Libyan people that thousands would die. Military aircraft began to bomb Libyan revolutionaries in the capital Tripoli, Benghazi, and other Libyan cities amid a complete media blackout.

It was a massacre of the defenceless Libyan people committed by tanks, planes, militias, and groups of mercenaries that were brought in from some African and Arab states to deal with protesters, after most tribes and a lot of army and security units joined the revolution.

The Libyan people deserve freedom after more than four decades of dictatorial rule that deprived them of their most basic rights. The Libyan people have been patient for a long time and have endured a lot of suffering. We do not know in what capacity Saif al-Islam Gaddafi had the right to address the Libyan people the way he did. His father Muammar al-Gaddafi kept claiming for the past 20 years that after handing over authority to the people, he enjoyed no presidential or governmental powers. If the father has no powers, then what are the powers that authorise Saif al-Islam to threaten to take the country back to the Middle Ages and to claim that he will fight to the last man, last woman and last bullet?

Saif al-Islam said, “Yes, Libya is not Egypt or Tunisia.” This is true because the Libyan dictatorial regime is the worst of all! In Mubarak’s Egypt and Ben Ali’s Tunisia there is an infrastructure, with universities, institutions, a network of public roads, the press and private television stations. However, all these things and more do not exist in Libya!

When the people revolt, their revolution does not stop until they achieve all their demands. In Syria, human rights groups say security forces have killed nearly 3,000 people since the beginning of the uprising in March but Syrian President Assad has defied international condemnation and calls for him to step down. Even Iran, Bashar al-Assad’s closest ally, called for the Syrian President to listen to the people. In Yemen, the people cannot secure their daily livelihood and enough food to feed their children, as power and money are concentrated in the hands of the few.

The Arab people have started to free themselves of the fear complex and humiliation, and have taken to the streets to demand change, change of regimes and change of policies that led to repression, unjust policies and corrupt regimes. The dictatorial Arab regimes are resisting strongly in a desperate attempt to survive these popular revolutions. The list is long and the Arab Spring is going to last for years, till it runs its course to the kingdoms of oil.

Nato’s “humanitarian” effort changed the regime in Libya. I pray to Allah that Nato’s next effort will be the use of the Cypriot base as a territory aircraft carrier against Assad’s regime to liberate the people of Syria, but Allah most probably will not accept my prayer! Why? Because the difference is that in Syria there is no reward to be gained!

Moustafa Megawer

QAWRA