EDITORIAL : THE SUN, UK

Topple tyrant

ANY Libyan pilot who tries to take to the air over his country today has to be mad. Just like Colonel Gaddafi.

But impressively swift creation of a no-fly zone by Britain and our allies is just the start.

Much more needs to be done to protect Libyan civilians. And it becomes clearer by the hour that the only action that will ensure their safety is the permanent removal from power of Gaddafi himself.

The United Nations resolution approves the use of 'all necessary measures' to stop and prevent the slaughter of innocent Libyans - which means anything short of an invasion and occupation.

But NO ONE is safe while the crazed Gaddafi rants and raves from his Tripoli bunker - while ordering paid foreign killers to 'show no mercy'.

NO ONE can trust a man who promises a ceasefire while launching bloody attacks on homes and hospitals as he sets about destroying rebel cities like Benghazi and Misrata.

NO ONE can ever again have dealings with a maniac who threatens revenge by blowing up passenger planes over the Mediterranean. Doubtless using the expertise he gained after ordering the Lockerbie atrocity.

And NO ONE can believe a single word from a man who brands the action supported by other Arab countries, Africa and the West as 'a new Hitlerism'. Perhaps he was looking in a mirror at the time.

When Gaddafi is just another chapter in the world book of tyrants, the people of Libya will have to sort out their own problems.

They will never be able to do that while Gaddafi is around.