Dubbed as the ‘Friends’ of Libya conference in Paris, it brought leaders of the Western nations together to discuss prospects in Libya. These are the same Western leaders who few months back had stood with Gaddafi’s dictatorship and had business deals with him to secure their oil needs. However, the western leaders quickly changed sides, once they saw the fall of their notorious-tyrant was inevitable.
The irony that the future of Libya, its economy, its system of governance, its alliances etc. are being discussed miles away in Paris, rather than in Libya, is not coincidental. Muslim lands have seen the plots to plunder their lands and resources many a times before being drafted by Western leaders sitting and meeting in the comfort of their own countries
In 1916, the Sykes–Picot Agreement between UK and France was made to break apart the Caliphate into regions of British and French influence. These Western nations then pursued ambitiously to install their own puppets and systems over these areas. The end of Caliphate, marked with a start of decades of rules by tyrants, who were hand-in-hand in safeguarding the interests of the Western leaders who had brought them to power.
Today, as the masses have stood up against the designs of the imperialists, by overthrowing the tyrants, the Western leaders are seen again scrambling to ensure continuation of their hegemony and interests in the region.
The People of Libya in general, and the NTC in particular must realise, that it was the Muslims of Libya who had made sacrifices in the struggle against the despotic ruler. And the Western leaders who stood with Gaddafi for years, are now pretending to be ‘friends’ of people of Libya.
These Western leaders have failed in their own stated objectives of exporting democracy, bringing justice, stability and economic prosperity in Iraq and Afghanistan, and therefore certainly cannot be expected to succeed in a third venture, in Libya. The people of Libya should look to an alternative and not a foreign imperial construct. Establishment of an indigenous option can make Libya stand on its own feet, and subsequently initiate convergence of the ‘state-lets’ such as Tunisia, Libya, Algeria, Egypt into one super state.
M S NAQVI
Lahore.
