UN MEETING:AS THE power of Muammar Gadafy crumbles, diplomats who served him in Washington and New York have become ardent proponents of his downfall, urging the US and the United Nations to take action against him.
Ali Suleiman Aujali, who was until this week Col Gadafy’s ambassador to Washington, said, “I resign from serving the current dictatorship regime” and appealed to the US to “raise its voice very strongly” to help overthrow Gadafy.
Mr Aujali spoke after Col Gadafy swore he would not leave Libya and would “die as a martyr”. The Libyan dictator’s former envoy to Washington told ABC News he wants Col Gadafy “to go and leave our people alone”. Mr Aujali is one of at least seven senior Libyan diplomats who stepped down on Monday. Others included Libya’s representative to the Arab League and ambassadors to Britain, Poland, China, India, Indonesia and Bangladesh.
As the UN Security Council convened an emergency session to discuss the turmoil in Libya yesterday, it wasn’t clear who spoke for Libya, the ambassador, Mohamed Shalgham, or the deputy ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi, who also defected on Monday.
Mr Shalgham said Col Gadafy “is my friend” and that although he could criticise the Libyan despot, “I cannot attack him. He is very brave”. But Mr Shalgham also said he told his government that “violence must stop” and promised to resign if it did not.
Mr Dabbashi has been the most energetic of the diplomats who deserted the regime. It was he who requested yesterday’s emergency meeting at the UN, making specific requests that the Security Council declare a UN no-fly zone over Libya, establish humanitarian corridors for relief supplies and investigate the crimes of the regime. He called Col Gadafy’s attacks on peaceful protesters “genocide” and promised that the Libyan mission to the UN “will be in the service of the Libyan people rather than in the service of the regime”.
Yesterday marked the first time the security council discussed the turmoil that is sweeping the Arab world. The morning session postponed the main discussion of the Libyan crisis until the afternoon. Diplomats predicted it would produce a statement but no immediate action. Western diplomats asked that at a minimum, the statement condemn the use of violence against Libyan civilians.
In Washington, John Kerry, chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, called Col Gadafy’s use of force against his own people “beyond despicable” and expressed his hope that “we are witnessing its last hours in power”. He said Col Gadafy “is irredeemable” but that “his senior military commanders need to know that their acquiescence in atrocities could open them to future international war crimes charges.”
Mr Kerry called on the UN Security Council to “condemn the violence and explore temporary sanctions, including an arms embargo and protection for Libyan civilian centres.”
“The world is watching the situation in Libya with alarm,” secretary of state Hillary Clinton said on Monday evening. She “strongly condemned” the violence in Libya and called on Tripoli to respect the universal rights of its people.
The US gives less than $1 million in annual aid to Libya and has no leverage there comparable to that wielded by the US military over the Egyptian army. But the Obama administration is under pressure to intervene more forcefully.
The Washington Post demanded “a public call for regime change”. The Wall Street Journal said: “It’s time for the West to drop its studied neutrality and help Libyans topple one of the world’s most loathsome regimes.”