Saif al-Islam Gaddafi is his father's son
Any idea that Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and his brothers might lead Libya to democracy flies in the face of their brutal record
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi said the regime would fight to the last man against the uprising. Photograph: Reuters Tv/Reuters
We will rule you or we will kill you. This was in essence the threat issued by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi in his first public address after the February demonstrations that sparked the Libyan revolution.
In past years, I was one of the many who had fallen for the fiction that Saif al-Islam was a genuine reformer, albeit one held back by his father's old guard. Many Libyans felt that a slow, imperfect yet peaceful transition under him was preferable to bloodshed and chaos. But within the first few minutes of his speech on 21 February, it became clear just how deluded we had been. The mask had come off.
For the rest of the speech he mingled threats of violence and promises of a better future with all the confused desperation of an abusive husband who is shocked to discover that his wife no longer submits to the beatings. Neither the threats nor the promises had their desired effect. Instead of shrinking back, ordinary Libyans rose up in even greater numbers, empowered by the knowledge that in the act itself of fighting back, one is free.
Having failed to sell this dubious compromise to the Libyan people, Gaddafi Jr and his brothers are now trying to flog the same bill of goods to the outside world. First he sent word to the British, French and Americans, to no avail. Now he's reaching out to the Turkish government, who have been touting a "ceasefire" deal which involves the Gaddafi sons helping to lead the country through a transition to democracy.
What has Turkey to gain from helping the Gaddafis cling to some degree of power? Well, for starters, there's the estimated $15bn worth of ongoing, no-bid contracts awarded to Turkish firms through their close relationships with the Gaddafi regime.
As recently as late 2010, the Libyan prime minister al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmudi, described Turkish firms as the "backbone" of Libya's $100bn domestic investment programme. To put this in perspective, a generous estimate of all UK contracts with Libya, including all exports as well as oil and gas exploration deals since 2005, would total to somewhere in the region of $3bn. As the Libyan "day of rage" kicked off on 17 February, the Istanbul Stock Exchange's main ISE-100 index began a fall of 11%, which was only halted on 2 March.
The Gaddafi brothers are now trying to sell themselves as voices of reason between two conflicting extremes. Yet how does this image tally with the evidence of the past few weeks?
The international criminal court's prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has presented evidence that the Gaddafi regime had planned well in advance to kill civilians who took part in demonstrations. Gaddafi's closest security advisers are his sons. It is simply inconceivable that Saif al-Islam, the self-styled champion of good governance and human rights, was unaware of the impending bloodbath. There is also video evidence of Saif al-Islam, assault rifle in hand, inciting his supporters to attack demonstrators in Tripoli, whom he describes as "nothing, just kids, bums and rats".
Saadi Gaddafi, who has also been named in the ceasefire proposals, heads a battalion specialising in crushing domestic dissent. There is eyewitness evidence that he and his younger brother Khamis were personally involved in the massacre of civilians in Benghazi and towns along the eastern coast of Libya. One of his former officers has stated that he received the order to fire on civilians from Saadi himself.
Despite all the horror they've inflicted, however, many of us are willing to allow them to leave the country alive and without further pursuit by the Libyan people. Unlike the values with which the Gaddafis were raised, many Libyans realise that blind vindictiveness against our enemies will not benefit us and will simply poison our future. As long as they leave us in peace, we will let them live among their clients in Zimbabwe, Venezuela or whatever corner of the earth will have them.
But it seems that when you've grown up expecting to inherit a country, it's not easy to walk away. So, what are the terms of this new "ceasefire" deal? They appear to be that Saif al-Islam himself takes the top job, assisted by his brother, while his father maintains a "limited role".
"The role of my father will be similar," Saif al-Islam stated just a few days ago, "if you keep saying step down, step down … you will get nothing".
The terms of the Gaddafi ceasefire, therefore, are these: we will rule you or we will kill you.
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