Libya: An honest broker in Darfur?

By Anne Bartlett

So the idiocy continues. First the Genocide Olympics, now peace talks hosted by Colonel Gadaafi one of the major architects of strife in the region. For the uninitiated at least, peace negotiations deserve a neutral third party whose interest in the outcome is benevolent. Yet what we have instead is an attempt to put the fox in charge of the chickens. A fox who is neither interested in the welfare of the people of Darfur or Chad, nor interested in taking care of the natural resources of the region – an issue that is apparently now dear to Mr. Ban’s heart.

For the sake of a little clarity here, let’s examine Col. Gadaafi’s qualifications for the role of peacemaker in chief. To do this, why not start with his relations with rebels? Far from trying to reduce conflict between rebel groups, Col. Gadaafi has actually worked hard to create them. Running his own rebel school he has created such luminaries as Charles Taylor and Foday Sankoh. Then of course he has hosted the Taureg rebels from Mali, other criminal elements from Niger and elsewhere. Let’s also not forget his support for the Red Army Faction, the IRA, ETA and a variety of other terrorist operations together with his interference in Cote d’Ivoire, Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria. The list goes on.

Then of course, we could look at his “honest broker” role in the Darfur Crisis, which itself has a long history. Starting with his neighbors in Chad and his designs on the Aouzou strip, Gadaafi struck a deal with the then Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi to use Darfur as an arms cache. Read more >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>