Libya

Libya: the return of hope

For anyone who believes in basic human freedom, the fact that Muammar Qaddafi’s 42-year long reign of autocratic terror in Libya is seemingly at an end must be a cause for celebration. As we go to press fighting is still going on in the capital Tripoli, but for the vast majority of Libyan people it seems to be the return of hope. Qaddafi’s rule was characterised by the most brutal extermination of all political opposition. Torture and public execution were commonplace. The scenes of mass jubilation on the streets of Tripoli and other Libyan cities that greeted the rebels’ advances are an...

Victory to the working class of Libya!

Martyn Hudson reports on the imminent fall of Qaddafi's regime in Libya. The hopes and aspirations of revolutionaries across North Africa have apparently been vindicated by the fall of Tripoli, the lair of the despotic Qaddafi family, to the democratic Libyan revolution. But the remnants of the regime are still firing on rebel forces. The victory in Misrata, where massacre was averted by its struggling and heroic population and the intervention of NATO forces had led to a westwards advance by the rebels. Over the weekend the key towns of Zawiya and Zlitan fell. The pro-regime troops in the...

Qaddafi must go!

On Wednesday 27 July Britain became the latest state to recognise the rebel National Transition Council (NTC) as the “sole [Libyan] governmental authority”. 30 countries, including the United States, have now recognized the NTC. UK Foreign Secretary, William Hague declared, “This decision reflects the National Transitional Council’s increasing legitimacy, competence and success in reaching out to Libyans across the country.” In London a Libyan diplomat was summoned to the Foreign Office to be told all Qaddafi officials must pack their bags and leave. The NTC had been complaining that many of...

News from Egypt and Libya

In Egypt, exasperation with the military council which has ruled the country since the revolution pushed out former dictator Hosni Mubarak on 11 February has spilled out onto the streets. People have been camping out in Cairo's Tahrir Square since 8 July, and there have also been big protests in Suez. The military and the government have responded with some concessions: • Fired more than 600 senior police officers; • Postponed the scheduled parliamentary elections from September to November (this has been a demand of the left and liberals, worried that only the Muslim Brotherhood will be able...

The labyrinth of Tripoli

As of early July, rebel forces are only 60 miles from the Libyan capital Tripoli. The war is continuing in the Nafusa mountains to the south, and the rebels are advancing from the east, although Misrata is still being shelled by government forces. Qaddafi is thought to be hiding out in hotels and hospitals. This kind of ending is what we hope for for all Shahs, Tsars, Caesars and despots of all kinds. In desperation Qaddafi has called for attacks on civilians in Europe in retaliation for NATO attacks on loyalist forces — on homes, offices and families of those who are attacking him. But the...

Checkmate in Libya?

In Tripoli there have been several reports of security tightening and repression stiffening up — obviously in anticipation of a potential uprising in the city as the rebel forces move closer. Apart from brief and brutally suppressed skirmishes by disaffected youth in some of the poorer suburbs of the capital there has been little activity on this front since mid-February in the week the insurgency began. At that point attacks by civilians on military installations and officers were defeated more by the extremely effective security measures of the regime then by any lack of will of the rebels...

Libya, 'humanitarian intervention' and the 'anti-imperialist' left

45 students and lecturers attended a 13 June talk on the Libyan and Gulf uprisings, at Durham University's Café Politique, presented by Martyn Hudson of the AWL and Durham academic Chris Davidson. It was also attended by some refugee rights workers and the discussion afterwards focused in part on the specific plight of Libyan refugees crossing the Mediterranean into Europe. Martyn’s discussion outlined the history of Third Camp politics and how this applies to Libya and to any discussion of "humanitarian intervention". It also particularly exposed the role of the UK left in perpetuating a...

Three dictators wobble, but don't yet fall

On Saturday 4 June, one of the three remaining Arab despots confronting mass rebellions — Ali Abdullah Saleh in Yemen — seemed to concede defeat, fleeing to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment. It was reported that 35 top officials had fled with him. Tens of thousands celebrated in the capital, Sanaa, on Sunday 5 June. But on Monday 6 June, Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, deputising for Saleh, refused to meet the opposition parties to discuss a transfer of power. He said Saleh would soon return, and there could be no talks until then. The USA and the EU are urging Saleh to step down. If Saleh digs in...

Libya, anti-imperialism, and the Socialist Party

This is a copy-edited and slightly expanded version of the printed text. Click here for the debate on Libya of which this is part . Click here to download the printed Workers' Liberty supplement as pdf. Click here to download the text, as slightly edited and expanded, in pdf format . Libya, anti-imperialism, and the Socialist Party Did Taaffe equate the Libyan rebels with the Nicaraguan contras? Anything other than "absolute opposition" means support? Intellectual hooliganism and AWL's "evasions" What is more important in the situation than stopping massacre? Bishop Taaffe and imperialism What...

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