Ever since the first protests in Libya in mid-February, Col Muammar Qaddafi has surprised the world. In the early days of the fast-moving Arab Spring, many presumed that Col Qaddafi, too, would have fled to gilded exile within days.
But six grim months later he remains in Tripoli, directing ruthless counter-attacks against a "popular movement" that is in danger of fracturing along lines of ideology and personality.
Military predictions are perilous; wars progress at their own uneven pace. Still, few would predict another six months for the current regime, as rebel forces advance, secret talks commence and western countries hand over Libyan assets - and open embassies - to the rebels' Transitional National Council (TNC).
But what might come after Col Qaddafi? How, if at all, can the rebels convert their ragtag military and splintering political movement into a government with the legitimacy and competence to move Libya beyond its appalling Qaddafi era? Remember that the revolt seemed to be collapsing until western and Arab nations intervened from the air, starting in mid-March. That widely welcomed decision has become a point of disagreement among Nato nations, as the aerial powers rediscover the old shopkeepers' adage: If you broke it, you bought it.
Nobody would say foreigners should meddle in the formation of a new government, yet the Nato coalition will have a moral obligation to the Libyan people. Will they be able to stomach helping the new leadership?
As revolutions near victory they often fission. The end of Col Qaddafi - whenever that comes - will be no guarantee of the end of fighting, as the July 28 assassination of rebel military leader Abdel Fatah Yunis shows.
Like many in the TNC, Gen Yunis was a former Qaddafi man. Such people make up one part of the rebels' loose coalition, along with social democrats, Islamists, expatriates, leaders of Libya's socially and militarily potent tribes and others. All of them are jostling for power. Islamist groups, which have contributed many fighters, rejected the first TNC cabinet, which was too secular for their taste. A new cabinet is now being formed.
Libya's tumult will not end with Col Qaddafi. It remains to be seen if people who lived under tyranny for so long can compromise going forward. But at the very least it's worth reminding Nato that these rebels are united largely in a desire to see Col Qaddafi go. They will need more than air strikes to keep that unity alive when he departs.
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
ICC T20 Team of 2021
Jos Buttler, Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam, Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, David Miller, Tabraiz Shamsi, Josh Hazlewood, Wanindu Hasaranga, Mustafizur Rahman, Shaheen Afridi
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Kat Wightman's tips on how to create zones in large spaces
- Area carpets or rugs are the easiest way to segregate spaces while also unifying them.
- Lighting can help define areas. Try pendant lighting over dining tables, and side and floor lamps in living areas.
- Keep the colour palette the same in a room, but combine different tones and textures in different zone. A common accent colour dotted throughout the space brings it together.
- Don’t be afraid to use furniture to break up the space. For example, if you have a sofa placed in the middle of the room, a console unit behind it will give good punctuation.
- Use a considered collection of prints and artworks that work together to form a cohesive journey.
The bio
Academics: Phd in strategic management in University of Wales
Number one caps: His best-seller caps are in shades of grey, blue, black and yellow
Reading: Is immersed in books on colours to understand more about the usage of different shades
Sport: Started playing polo two years ago. Helps him relax, plus he enjoys the speed and focus
Cars: Loves exotic cars and currently drives a Bentley Bentayga
Holiday: Favourite travel destinations are London and St Tropez
The Africa Institute 101
Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction.
The Old Slave and the Mastiff
Patrick Chamoiseau
Translated from the French and Creole by Linda Coverdale
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A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
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Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more