Main focus of Friday, October 21, 2011

Circumstances of Gaddafi's death unclear

Muammar al-Gaddafi, who ruled over Libya for decades on end, was killed in his home town Sirte when the rebels captured the last bastion of his supporters. How exactly he died remains unclear. Commentators say Gaddafi's death sends the important message that tyranny is always punished in the end, but see lynch justice as the worst foundation for a constitutional state in Libya.

Lynch justice damages new state

The circumstances of the death of Muammar al-Gaddafi are still unclear but it seems he probably wasn't killed in battle. Lynch justice is the wrong basis for a young state, writes the liberal-conservative daily Corriere della Sera: "Gaddafi's mangled corpse is the worst start to a new liberated Libya. Not an act of war, not a commando operation like the one that killed Osama bin Laden, but a debased act marks this new beginning. An act of revenge that is accompanied by the angry cries of the enraged mob. However it wasn't the tragic execution of a tyrant that the mob witnessed but the defiling of a symbol that should be scorned and destroyed. ... Yet all the torment Gaddafi's torturers inflicted on the Libyan people still cannot justify the brutality with which a cruel and inhuman tyranny ended yesterday." (21/10/2011)

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Gaddafi's death prevents key trial

The death of Muammar al-Gaddafi during his capture means that the new Libya can no longer put him on trial, the liberal daily NRC Handelsblad laments: "A tribunal is not only a warning to fellow dictators and a signal from the new leaders that they want to take the path of constitutional law. A trial can also help uncover the truth, and, even if indirectly, lead to reconciliation. That Gaddafi was a despot is well known. But how he could hold onto power for four decades and who helped him do it must still be answered. Gaddafi himself can no longer do this, meaning it is no longer possible to settle accounts on a political level. That can lead to new myths and acts of revenge. After the rejoicing hard times lie ahead." (21/10/2011)

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Dictators must fail

The death of the ousted Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi shows that dictators will always fail in the end, writes the editor in chief of the liberal daily Gazeta Wyborcza, Adam Michnik: "One should never be happy about someone's death, even if he was a tyrant guilty of inflicting suffering on thousands of others. For that reason I feel no joy at the death of Muammar al-Gaddafi. But it does prompt me to reflect on the world we share with dictators. Gaddafi seemed unassailable. He deceived and humiliated the whole world. He terrorised the Libyans with an iron fist and at the same time reached an understanding with the West after years of conflict. ... But he miscalculated. Those under him finally recognised that it was time to say: enough! ... That was a signal to other people living under tyranny: dictators never go unpunished, dictators are not immortal." (21/10/2011)

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Only inner unity can bring Libya forward

After the death of Muammar al-Gaddafi the Libyan transitional government must above all avoid internal power struggles, the liberal-conservative business paper Financial Times writes: "The NTC's first task is to ensure that the unity marshalled against Gaddafi does not splinter now he is gone. A descent into infighting would imperil the fragile achievements of the past six months. As soon as is practical, the victorious factions must agree on a path towards the creation of the institutions that will enshrine the freedoms for which so many Libyans have laid down their lives. If Libya requests it, the west should be ready to provide technical assistance in this process. On the military front, however, now that Gaddafi no longer threatens his own people, the west should avoid outstaying its welcome." (21/10/2011)

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