“Mad Dog of the Middle East” is finished: Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao

“Mad Dog of the Middle East” is finished

Libya’s Colonel Qaddafi-Longest Serving Ruler in History

Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao

Libyan leader Gaddafi’s four decade long rule and his six-month-old battle for control over Libya has come to an end. US President Obama expressed his total happiness on the Libyan developments and commented that “Qaddafi and his regime need to recognize that their rule has come to an end. Qaddafi needs to acknowledge the reality that he no longer controls Libya and needs to relinquish power once and for all”. What else can he say?

Thanks to Obama and his team, Tunisian President Zine Ben Ali stepped down after 23 years in power. Hosni Mubarak was ousted following large scale demonstrations in Egypt. Thousands of protesters poured in to streets in the biggest antigovernment demonstration in the Persian Gulf kingdom of Bahrain. Arab state Yemen saw mass protests demanding change in government. And now it is the turn of Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi to face the wrath of his country people similar to that of Tunisia, Bahrain and Egypt. Qaddafi is on his way out.

Libya-an oil-rich nation has been under the firm and erratic control of Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi since he seized power in 1969. But in February 2011, the unrest sweeping through much of the Arab world erupted in several Libyan cities. The faltering government of Qaddafi struck back at the mounting protests of rebellion.

Qaddafi took power in a bloodless coup in September 1969 and has ruled with an iron fist, seeking to spread Libya’s influence in Africa. He has built his rule on a cult of personality and a network of family and tribal alliances supported by Libya’s oil revenues. Internationally, he is regarded as an erratic and quixotic figure that travels with an escort of female bodyguards and likes to live in a large tent of the kind used by desert nomads.

The modern history of independent Libya began in 1951. On 21 November 1949 the UN General Assembly passed a resolution stating that Libya should become independent before First January 1952. Prior to 2nd World War Libya was a colony of Italy until Italian forces were driven out by the Allies in 1943. Libya came under the control of France and the UK as a UN Trusteeship in 1947 when Italy formally relinquished its claim to Libya. As part of the arrangement the United Kingdom and France governed the three historical regions of Libya, namely Tripolitania, Cyrenaica and Fezzan. On 24 December 1951, Libya declared its independence-the country being called as the United Kingdom of Libya, and Idris being offered the crown. Two years after independence, on 28 March 1953, Libya joined the Arab League.

In April 1955, oil exploration started in the kingdom and oil drastically improved Libya's finances. The monarchy came to an end on 1 September 1969 when a group of military officers led by Qaddafi staged a coup against King Idris while he was in Turkey for medical treatment. After that the popular revolt in Libya in February 2011 is the latest and bloodiest so far.

Colonel Qaddafi - an admirer of Egyptian President Late Gamal Abdel Nasser and his Arab Socialist and nationalist ideology while he was in his teens - is the longest serving of all current non-royal national leaders and is one of the longest serving rulers in history. He is also the longest-serving ruler of Libya. Qaddafi took part in anti-Israel demonstrations during the 1956 Suez Crisis. Following the removal of King Idris the 27-year-old Qaddafi proclaimed the “Libyan Arab Republic”. Qaddafi turned Libya into anti-western radicals’ center. Qaddafi instead of calling himself as General accepted to be called as Colonel.

In 1977 Libya became a Direct Democracy governed by the people through local popular councils and communes. Qaddafi based his new regime on a blend of Arab Nationalism, aspects of the Welfare State, and what Qaddafi termed as "Direct, Popular Democracy". He called this system “Islamic Socialism" and imposed a system of Islamic morals outlawing alcohol and gambling. In March 2008 Qaddafi announced his intention to dissolve the country's existing administrative structure and disburse oil revenue directly to the people. He has been a strong supporter of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which support ultimately harmed Libya's relations with Egypt resulting in Qaddafi’s seeking closer relations with the Soviet Union.

Notable in Qaddafi’s politics was his support for liberation movements in West Africa as well as Muslim groups. The Reagan administration viewed Libya as an aggressive rogue state because of its support for revolutionary Iran in the 1980–1988 war against Saddam Husain’s Iraq, and its backing of liberation movements in the developing world. Reagan called Qaddafi the "Mad Dog of the Middle East”. Later developments led to strained diplomatic relations between USA and Libya for a long time.

Following the overthrow of Saddam Husain in 2003, Qaddafi announced his willingness to allow international inspectors into his country to observe and dismantle weaponry of mass destruction program by them. International inspectors unearthed several tons of chemical weaponry in Libya, as well as an active nuclear weapons program. As the process of destroying these weapons continued, Libya improved its cooperation with international monitoring regimes. In March 2004, British PM Tony Blair became one of the first Western leaders in decades to visit Libya and publicly meet Qaddafi. Blair praised Gaddafi's acts, and stated that he hoped Libya could be a strong ally in the international War on Terrorism.

On 15 May 2006, the USA announced that it would restore full diplomatic relations with Libya. However in June 2008, Qaddafi strongly criticized US presidential candidate Barack Obama for saying Jerusalem should remain the undivided capital of Israel. During the G8 Summit in July 2008 as Chairman of the African Union Qaddafi shook hands with US President Barack Obama - the first time the Libyan leader has been greeted by a serving US president.

As one of the continent's longest-serving post-colonial heads of state, the Libyan leader enjoys a reputation among many Africans as an individualist statesman. Qaddafi is also seen by many Africans as a humanitarian, pouring large amounts of money into sub-Saharan states. Large numbers of Africans have come to Libya to take advantage of the availability of jobs there, despite the weak private sector.

Mass movements, agitations, rebellions and large scale protests and demonstrations that have been taking place in the Arab World in the recent past are different from the military coups of yester years. Neither in the past nor at present there remains little hope that the people there would be able to get in to a democratic system. It looks like the army personnel in these countries have chosen a different strategy different from the past and provoking people to achieve their game plan. Only when democracies are established in these countries, there is a meaning to revolt. Or else it is just moving from one dictator to another dictator. But…the Million Dollar Question is about the role of USA in the Arab World Destabilization? Is it not USA that is going to be the ultimate beneficiary?