Information about the uprising underway in the oil-rich Libya is still sketchy (partly due to government control), but signs are proliferating that the Gaddafi regime’s response is turning out to be the most reckless and brutal in comparison to Tunisia and Egypt’s uprisings.
On the website of their newspaper, Azzahf Al-Akhdar (Green March), the Revolutionary Committee (the backbone of Gaddafi’s regime) has this to say: “The response of the people and the Revolutionary Forces to any adventure by these small groups will be sharp and violent. The power of the people, the Jamahiriya (government by the masses), the Revolution and the leader are all red lines, and anyone who tries to cross or approach them will be committing suicide and playing with fire,”
According to international media reports (information mostly obtained through telephone interviews or videos posted on anti-Libyan government activist sites), the Libyan security forces, backed by “African mercenaries,” had been shooting at the anti-government demonstrators with assault rifles and heavy machine-guns indiscriminately. The AFP reports that more than 100 people are feared dead, and that the situation is getting ugly as the Anti-regime protests inching closer to the Libyan capital Tripoli.
The international community, especially the Obama administration, is condemning Gaddafi’s iron-fisted crackdown on anti-government protestors. Absent are the African Union (AU), and the voices of African governments. You would think that Libya being a member of the AU and that Gadhafi being its (AU) former chairman, the AU would be the first to jump on board, and take a lead in urging Gadhafi to exercise restraint in dealing with protestors! Am I surprise by the AU’s inaction? No!
