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Rabat - The situation in Libya is truly alarming. The State is into a shambles and chaos is everywhere.
Many people regret the era of the dictator Khaddaffi, they argue that, undoubtedly, he was ruthless but law and order reigned and Libya was respected and feared worldwide. Today, everyone is pitying the country and its people and parliamentarians are praying Western countries, openly, to come to their rescue, but, so far, they have not obliged.
In the field, the picture is grim, the country is back in the Middle Ages, it is ruled by numerous heavily-armed warlords with different ideologies and approaches to ruling post-khaddafi Libya, most of which uphold a Salafist form of Islam, in many ways, close to Wahabism. The secularists, though representing a sizeable portion of the population, like in many parts of the MENA region, skirt defying the religious zealots for fear to be considered infidels and, as a result, excommuned.
Realizing that the country is slidng into chaos and falling in the grip of fierce religious extremists, who, some of which, were responible for the attack of its embassy and the death of its diplomats, the United States encouraged the retired General Khalifa Haftar to take on the Islamists. With the help of the airforce, he launched a battle, he dubbed karama "dignity," to regain control of the country. However, his entreprise hurriedly-designed and badly-coached turned into a miltary disaster, and the Islamists emboldened by their success took control of Tripoli and Benghazi and gave the boot to both the paper government and the national assembly, that were obliged to move to Tobrouk, in the east, [a city close to Egypt], the anti-Islamist ally, to continue to exist.
In view of this disastrous situation, the Western countries, that helped defeat Khaddafi with deadly airstrikes, are seriousy considering finishing the business they started few years go by putting together an international task force that would have to fulfill the following objectives:
1- Disarm all militias, whatever or wherever they are;
2- Prop up the national assembly;
3- Help set up a legitimate government;
4- Help build a national army and a police force; and
5- Help resume oil-exporting to bolster the Libyan ailing national economy.
So far, it seems that the Western countries are considering to make the internationl stabilization force of: the United States, France, Britain, Italy, Canada and Australia, and to make it acceptable to the local Muslim population, it will comprise such countries as Morocco, Turkey, Jordan and probably Egypt, if it is not rejected by the Islamist Libyan militias, for its repression of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
The Stabilization force will, first, secure the cities of Tripoli and Benghazi, then move on to other cities. The militias’ combatants, as icentive, will be offered to disarm and in return secure a position in the army and the security apparatus and their chiefs and key figures to form poitical parties and join the government. As for General Khalifa Haftar, he will be asked to return to his retirement.
Hopefully this plan would save the face of all forces in presence and allow Libya to be reclaimed from chaos and failure, before it becomes another Somalia in North Africa, a situation that nobody wants.
AFP Photo/Mahmud Turkia
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