When will mass protest come to Libya?

Rhoda Klapp

Well, now you see it? Richard North has the idea..http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/2011/02/why-surprise.html

Do not think the Simpsons or Jeremy Bowens of the world have a bloody clue about what's going on. They didn't tell us about these events before they happened. Comfort zone, again.

yank

Mubarak doesn't dress with style, like Khadaffi. That's his problem. He needs a better clothier.

I mean, look at that photo. The simple button down collared shirt, the unconstructed vest overlay, with just the slightest bit of texture and shade conflicts. Capped off with the no nonsense patch shades, rustically fly beanie and fastidiously unkempt grooming... It's Roman Polanski at the Libyan Riviera.

Khadaffi leads... the rest follow.

Dimoto

According to the CIA Factbook, Tunisia is 50% richer than Egypt and Libya twice as rich, (GDP/cap), and Libya has social welfare. Neither Tunisia nor Libya have a chronic population problem.

The secret of Ghaddafi's success is - oil, he has quite a lot.

justathought

Its not surprising that the Ministers fingerprints were revealed by the latest wikileaks but even air miles Andy got a mention, he is a busy fellow.

Meanwhile King Abdullah of Jordan has taken swift action to implement "true political reforms" after the King dismissed the cabinet including the prime minister.

Rather than hold elections he has chosen to appoint a retired major general. The King has widespread personal support but many are questioning if this latest move will be sufficient to quell the tide demanding rights within the kingdom.

Verity

Ghadaffi also has young female body guards with assault weapons. I'm not quite sure what this tells us about Ghadaffi, but we can intuit that he is not your average shiny suited dictator.

Yow Min Lye

And from that other cesspit of nepotism and brutal autocracy - Syria? Not a dickie bird

Derek

...and all quiet on the Persian front...

Dimoto

Syria is in the middle of an economic boom (having relaxed some controls).
So don't get your hopes up !

Baron

you cannot have it all at once, have patience, the time for the Colonel will come.

old fogey

On yesterday's BBC 1 lunchtime news I counted five correspondants reporting/analysing from Egypt. One of them was the inevitable, and ever pompous, and never fallible, John Simpson ( that man is the epitome of the oh so superior and condescending liberal-leftie BBC ).Today one of them had travelled up to Alexandria, but a new reporter had arrived, eager to make his reputation on the travails of the struggling Egyptians. Oh well, at least we've been spared the dreaded flame haired Oirish banshee Orla Guerin.

Verity

Old Fogey - Omigod! Orla Guerin! When I lived in Britain, I could actually clear a whole staircase and change directions mid-air to enter a room without touching down once, to turn Orla Guerin off!

Robert Eve

Amazing - Bowen has not slagged off Israel all week.

Malfleur

If Britain were really enticed "with the allure of Libya’s virginal natural resources" it would restore the Idris monarchy to a coastal enclave and establish a place d'armes and control over the oil fields in the remainder of the country.

In the context of British and wider western interests, as events unfold along the north Mediterranean littoral, this policy will increasingly be seen to be based on common sense.

By then of course it may well be too late...In the meantime, we are able to benefit hugely in obtaining a warm feeling of moral superiority by condemning such ideas as lunacy. Worth the price...? Only a true liberal could 'yes'.

Cabbie

And when to Saudi uprising and....the regions of the EU? And when it does come to the EU Federation what will be the level of repression? I'd guess it would be on a different scale to that encountered by the revolting students [sic] who were no threat to the eustablishment hegemony!

Nansen

The Colonel is a skilled populist, he communicates what his people want to hear. Libyans are happy to stay unemployed on grants and let in Tunisian and Egyptian guestworkers, who make up 50 precent of Libyas population.

Clear Memories

As the Middle East lurches towards theocracy and will undoubtedly abandon democracy, perhaps it might be wise to consider Hillel Neuer’s testimony before the U.S. Congress; here's a few extracts:

'Let's look, first, at the council's current members. They include: Bangladesh, China, Cuba, Pakistan, Russia and Saudi Arabia. The newest member is Libya, under the dictatorship of Colonel Gaddafi. As measured by Freedom House, 57% of the members fail to meet basic democracy standards.

Second, let's look at the council's response over the past five years to the world's worst human rights violations.

Here's what we find:

• For the one-fifth of the world's population living in China, where millions have suffered gross and systematic repression, for the minority Uighurs who have been massacred, for the Tibetans killed -- the council adopted not a single resolution. Its response was silence.

• For the peaceful civic activists, bloggers and dissidents in Cuba, who are beaten or languish in prison -- no resolutions.

• For the victims of Iran, massacred by their own government while the Human Rights Council was actually in session, subjected to torture, rape and execution-- no action.

• For the women of Saudi Arabia who are subjugated, where rape victims are sentenced to lashes -- the council, looked away.

• For the people of Zimbabwe, who continue to suffer under the jackboot of the Mugabe regime--no resolutions.

Mr. Chairman, apart from a handful of exceptions, the UN Human Rights Council, in the five years of its existence, has systematically turned a blind eye to the world's worst abuses, failing the victims most in need. You may ask, then: What does it do with its time? I will tell you.

To an astonishing degree, the council has reserved its moral outrage for demonizing one single country, Israel, the only liberal democracy in the Middle East.

Consider:

1. In total, the council has adopted some 50 resolutions that condemn countries. Of these, 35 have been on Israel -- i.e. 70%. All have been one-sided condemnations that grant impunity to Hamas and Hezbollah, and to their state sponsor, the Islamic Republic of Iran.

2. Built into the council's permanent agenda is a special item on Israel. No other country is singled out in this fashion.

3. Out of 10 special sessions that criticized countries, six were on Israel--and four for the rest of the world combined.

4. The council's machinery of fact-finding missions exists almost solely to attack Israel. The most notorious example is the Goldstone Report, a travesty of justice that excoriated Israel and exonerated Hamas. This was not surprising given that the mission operated according to a prejudicial mandate, with a predetermined verdict, and with members such as Christine Chinkin, who declared Israel guilty in advance.

5. The council has a permanent investigator, Richard Falk, mandated to report on "Israel's violation of the principles of international law." Mr. Falk also happens to be one of the leading proponents of the conspiracy theory that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were an inside job, orchestrated by the U.S. government.

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, the promises of the council's founding resolution-- improved membership, action for victims, an end to politicization and selectivity -- have not been kept. On the contrary: If we consider the fatal flaws identified by Kofi Annan in the old commission, every single one applies equally today to the new council.'

I wonder if this testimony will be reported in any of the mainstream media or is the truth about the United Nations of no interest?

So, how much money does the UK waste on this unelected, anti-western, anti-democracy, anti-freedom movement?

With the seismic political shifts occurring in the Middle East, can we expect any improvement in personal freedoms, liberty and equality?

Perhaps ‘Smarkets’ might open a book on when the first ‘proper’ attack on Israel comes (not the current unpleasant niggles of Hamas). Let’s face it, only an all-out war is going to save Obama’s arse now.

Johnny Ringo

Awww...what a quaint and cute little article. I especially enjoyed reading from the armchair experts who claimed populist Gadaffi would never be challanged by his contentedly unemployed masses.

Jack

This article is completely irrelevant now seeing as there is an international coalition bombing Libya, and a brutal civil war taking place...