Stop the bombing
JUST like it did when the African Union (AU) put forward a deal for a truce and talks early last month, the rebel Transitional National Council in Benghazi has rejected Muammar Gaddafi's call for a ceasefire and negotiations. As the colonel's proposal did not include an offer to step down, long a non-negotiable condition for the rebels, there was indeed little chance that they would agree to any truce. But the problem is that it also appears highly unlikely that the rebels will be able to remove him by force. As it is, the airstrikes by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato), which started more than a month ago, have not tilted the balance on the battlefield in their favour.
Neither have the bombings been consistent with the United Nations Security Council resolution, whose sole objective was to protect civilians. The protection of civilians is undoubtedly an honourable mission. But as experiences with no-fly zones elsewhere attest, it is often disingenuous to claim that they are designed to defend civilians. The inconvenient truth is that when bombs fall, as they did on Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli yesterday, they kill and maim non-combatants and children. Moreover, the avowed aim in Western capitals that Gaddafi must go cannot be squared with the terms of the United Nations resolution which does not authorise intervention to bring about regime change. In any case, whatever the air cover, the rebels do not seem to have the firepower to defeat the loyalist forces. Neither does the regime have the military capability to knock the opposition out. Unless Nato is prepared to go beyond the UN mandate and put boots on the ground to break the stalemate, they should start exploring a political rather than a military solution to the civil war in Libya.
As the desire to topple the long-time Libyan leader is the glue that holds together the hastily- assembled and disparate rebel movement, negotiating a settlement with Gaddafi may not be a palatable course of action. Of course, the armed dissidents enjoy international support and acclaim. But if they are truly the "sole representative" of the Libyan people that they claim to be, there should be nothing to fear from holding talks without any preconditions and accepting the AU offer to mediate. At the very least, it will test whether the colonel is as willing to enter into meaningful negotiations as he says he is. But, more importantly, the sooner the fighting and the bombing stop, the greater the chances that innocent lives will be saved.
As the desire to topple the long-time Libyan leader is the glue that holds together the hastily- assembled and disparate rebel movement, negotiating a settlement with Gaddafi may not be a palatable course of action. Of course, the armed dissidents enjoy international support and acclaim. But if they are truly the "sole representative" of the Libyan people that they claim to be, there should be nothing to fear from holding talks without any preconditions and accepting the AU offer to mediate. At the very least, it will test whether the colonel is as willing to enter into meaningful negotiations as he says he is. But, more importantly, the sooner the fighting and the bombing stop, the greater the chances that innocent lives will be saved.
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