Why Did Gaddafi Surrender?

Daily Trust (Abuja)
OPINION
December 29, 2003
Posted to the web December 29, 2003

By Jibrin Abubakar

As the accumulated dust that rented the air over the capture of Saddam Hussein
is gradually settling down, the world seems to have beamed its light on Africa
when the famous Libyan president, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi declared that Libya
was dismantling its Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) even as Libya invites UN
weapon inspectors-Scot Ritter, Hans Blix, El-Baradei and the rest, willingly.
The announcement of Libya to surrender its arms, according to pen pushers
shocked the world to its root. Speculations are that Gaddafi fears lest the
fate of Saddam befalls his country, more so that the world faces chaos in the
definition of politics among nations and the gradual erosion in the concept of
sovereignty.
Gaddafi, who became famous for turning deaf ears to the west and as a great
Pioneer of African Union (AU) was unequivocally blacklisted into the so-called
George W. Bush "axis of evil" which included: Iraq, Iran, North Korea, and
later the US under-secretary of state, John Bolton said that Syria, Libya and
Cuba are also candidates.
Since the black days of 1988 Lockerbie bombing-for which a Libyan agent was
indicted, the oil rich country has made huge strides towards being reintegrated
into global scheme of things.
For one, Libya has renounced terrorism, it has agreed to pay compensation to
victims' families and most dramatically now it has announced that it is
abandoning its programmes of developing weapons of mass destruction, and thus
opening its doors for a new deal with the United Nations' nuclear agency to
provide guarantees on biological weapons.
The nagging question is for what reason is Gaddafi surrendering his firebrand
and iron fist revolutionary he once portrayed himself? Certainly not to please
the imperialistic tendency of George Bush or the "follow-suit" character of
Tony Blair but perhaps to redirect and redefine Libya's national interest and
focus on the reinvigoration of its dwindling state of economic development.
Thirty-four years in power, and still recovering from the bruising air strike
by the US air-force on his Tripoli house in 1986, Gaddafi wants to renew his
diplomatic ties with the US, an objective he has nursed since 1992 when the
United Nations slammed its sanction on it and the US sanctions forced American
oil companies to leave the country. The sanctions, perhaps gave, Gaddaffi a
sense of international isolation.
Throughout the 1990s Libya sought to ease the blockade, succeeding only at the
end of the decade when it surrendered the two suspects for the Lockerbie
bombing for trial in Netherlands. Hence, over the years Gaddafi has re-
established his relation with Europe, but the US unilateral sanctions remained
and those imposed by the UN were only suspended.
Consequently, the politics among nations is inevitable. Like in the case of
North Korea when it evicted the UN weapons inspectors and announced that it was
continuing its weapons programme, America was on its knees urging North Korea
to abandon its programmes for free supply of food and other political and
economic benefits from the US. In the same vein, the US has issued
conditionalities that will herald a normal relation with Libya, free of
economic sanctions.
Washington has demanded for a political and economic change in the country, the
reforms Gaddafi has been deeply suspicious of, especially coming from no one
than the United States.
Despite Gaddafi's suspicious of the United States reform call, domestic
pressures and insurgency have created a need to ease the stronghold. Recently,
a new prime minister, an economist, was appointed with an explicit reform
agenda, bringing into limelight the commitment of the 'much-criticised-
Gaddafi.'
Beyond the orchestrated hysteria, the reasons issued by Libya to stop weapon
programme are quite handy: "In view of the international environment that
prevailed during the cold war and the tension in the Middle East, the great
socialist people's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (GSPLAJ) has urged the countries in
the region to make the Middle East and Africa a region free of the weapons of
mass destruction," Tripoli declared.
Accordingly, Libya, US and UK held talks over peace and security in which Libya
decided "with its own free will" to get rid of the banned weapons.
'In addition to that, we confirm that (Libya) will abide by the Non-
Proliferation Treaty, the IAEA safeguards Agreement and the Biological weapons
convention as well as accepting the additional protocol of the IAEA safeguards
Agreement and the Biological and Chemical Weapons Treaty," it added.
Basking in Gaddafi's decision to surrender its weapons, the US president,
George W. Bush minced no word while showing that his imperialistic war is
yielding result. 'When leaders make wise and responsible choice, when they
renounce terror and weapons of mass destruction, as Colonel Gaddafi has now
done, they serve the interest of their own people and they add to the security
of all nations should Libya pursue internal reform, America will be ready to
help its people to build a more free and prosperous country."
This, coming from the US president opened a can of warm, created a vacuum and
heated the debate over the proliferation of the Weapons of Mass Destruction.
The secretary General of Arab league, Amr Mousa emphasised the need for all
countries of the world to dismantle their nuclear programmes, the United
States, and Israel especially which accumulated over 200 stockpiles of nuclear
arsenals capable of destroying the world in 24 hours.
"The Libyan move 'emphasises the need for Israel to comply with all the
regulations that prohibit the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
There should be no exceptions that would allow Israel, [to have such weapons],"
the secretary general of Arab league, Amr Mousa, said.
Corroborating the comment of Amr Mousa, the Egyptian Foreign minister, Ahmed
Maher, who was almost strangled to death in Israel recently said that he hopes
other countries in the region would follow such an example get rid of and put
an end to any nuclear weapons production programme You know, of course, who I
mean."
Like an Oxymoron, the name Gaddafi is now scribled on gold in the white House
when George Bush described him as a wise and responsible leader just as his
'brother,' the British prime minister, Tony Blair said Gaddafi is a man of
courage and statesmanlike. Hence, contradicting President Ronald Reagan's
assertion that "Gaddafi deserves to be treated as a pariah in the world
community."
"This courageous decision by Colonel Gaddafi is an historic one. I applaud it.
It will make the region and the world more secure. It shows that problems of
proliferation can, with good will, be tackled through discussion and engagement
to be followed up by responsible international agencies," Blair said.
But how tenable and durable is the Bush-Blair adjectival description of
Gaddafi? It would be recalled that Saddam Hussein was once a right-hand ally of
the US during the invasion of the Islamic Republic of Iran, while President
Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan was commended for his contribution in the invasion
of Afghanistan but has unequivocally remained suspended in the Commonwealth of
Nations.
The implication of Gaddafi's decision need to be re-xamined, he must not
rejoice yet in his quixotic decision to abandon his military might in order to
dine with the powers that be. For he who wishes to dine with the "devil" must
hold a long spoon.
That Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is turning a new page and cleaning up his image
and that of his country, the real issue is, would all the sanctions be scrapped
now that the US is still asking for political and economic reforms i.e. the
shift from Libya's propagated socialism to western-like liberal democracy?
Whether this latest development is enough to tip the balance will become more
apparent as weapon inspectors dismantle the country's weapons of mass
destruction.

   

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