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Remaining Engaged in Libyanyti.ms/sKcBxl
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As NATO officially ends its Libya mission, critical questions emerge about Libya’s future and the international community’s continued involvement. Despite the operation’s technical termination, engagement by NATO and regional allies must not cease. A new phase must commence. It must include a training and equipping mission for Libya’s new security forces. Arguably, the process has actually begun. Libya’s interim leader has already asked NATO to add military advisers on the ground.
The transition must amount to an agreement between a sovereign Libya, individual NATO members and key regional allies, including Qatar. During the conflict, Qatar played an indispensable role, which included supplying ground forces, training and communications. It must retain a leading role among contributing states.
However, lingering doubts persist about Libya’s future. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s violent death reinforces skeptics’ arguments that little will change. A similar fate for his son, Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, would be disastrous. Trial must follow his eventual capture or surrender, whether in Libya or at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. It would partially offset mounting international pressure and set a proper precedent.
Reconstruction involves a massive undertaking. Fears of tribal and provincial rivalries and looted arms depots threaten internal and regional stability. Nearly 7,000 prisoners of war in crammed in inadequate facilities must be equitably processed, and raw retribution must be avoided.
I.M.F. estimates point to a 50 percent drop in annual economic output. Qaddafi held more than $200 billion in hidden assets around the world, far more than originally suspected. In order to alleviate Libya’s plight, asset recovery through international cooperation must accelerate.
