The death of Libya’s ex-leader Muammar Gaddafi has had more impact on people than did his life. That is according to Sukant Chandan, freelance journalist and spokesman for British Civilians For Peace in Libya. He says peace is yet to come to Libya.
The remains of Colonel Gaddafi, his son Mutassim and a top aide have finally been buried after days on public display. But according to Chandan, the issue of former leader’s death is still a running story.“I have a lot of Arab friends who were very hostile to him, but as for the nature of his death [it’s different]. There is a famous Chinese revolutionist who said that ‘to die for the enemy is lighter than a feather, but to die against Western foreign policy is weightier than a mountain.’ So I think Gaddafi’s death has been very weighty and has a deep, profound impact on the Arab psyche,” says Chandan. Chandan notes that Arabs were not only outraged by the nature of Gaddafi’s death, but through it were also awakened to the rebel’s true nature. As for talk of peace finally coming to Libya, the activist argues there is none. “There are scores of rebel factions. All the media are being very clear that the civil war between the rebel factions and the NTC is about to blow up, which even the NTC leaders acknowledge,” affirms the journalist.Besides, Chandan notes that essential infrastructure and services in Libya’s capital have not been restored, which does not suggest peace either: there is no running water in Trilopi and when there is, it is salty.It has been announced that the NTC has formally asked NATO to continue its bombing campaign for at least one more month, so the activist points out that there is deep division in the pro-NATO rebel Council.“People like Mr. [Mustafa Abdul] Jalil and [Mahmoud] Jibril are very keen that NATO intervene on their behalf against other factions which they don’t support.”
An eyewitness to the NATO bombing in Libya, Ali Alkasih, agrees, saying that the alliance's actions have created big divisions in the country.“They used every possible thing to make this so-called ‘revolution’ successful,” Alkasih told RT. “They used gunships, they used helicopters, they used fighters – all sorts of weapons that they had at their disposal, so that they could dispose of Gaddafi and make this revolution successful. They’ve killed so many people to succeed in this operation. [But] I don’t think it’s a success, because if it was a success, every Libyan would be happy.”Alkasih says Libyan society has been split apart by both NATO interference and the Gaddafi regime.“There is a huge gap now between Libyans – partially because of the NATO interference and partially, let’s be honest, because of Gaddafi,” he argued. “But the way they killed Gaddafi, the way they treated him, the way they bombed my city, which had a lot of civilians inside it who were killed as well – this just generates anger and generates revenge, which will be in the future fuel for another war in Libya… sooner or later.”