Libyans Focus on Reconciliation Rebuildingsit amet

Now that the rebels in Libya are in virtual control of Libya and the dictator Muammar Gaddafi is running from pillar to post in a bid to seek refuge and save himself and his family,

 the Libyans are focussing on reconciliation and rebuilding of the nation. The civil war has left scars on Libyan polity which will take time to heal. It is in the backdrop of this scenario that Libya’s new leadership reaffirmed its commitment to democracy on September 2, 2011 and worked on its priorities for sending billions of dollars released from the frozen assets of fugitive strongman Muammar Gaddafi.

 

A day after international powers met in Paris and agreed to hand over more than $ 15 billion to the rebels who overthrew Gaddafi, the European Union rescinded a range of sanctions and officials from the National Transitional Council (NTC) ex-plained their rebuilding plans.

 

The NTC representative in London said that work on putting right the damage of 42 years of eccentric one-man rule and of six months of civil war should not wait until Gaddafi is found and the last bastions of armed support for him are defeated.

 

“As long as Tripoli is stabilized and secure and safe, which it almost is now, and the overwhelming majority of other cities and towns, then Libyans can get on with the process of transition and stabilization and the new political process,” Guma El-Gamaty told the BBC.

 

In the eastern city of Benghazi, seat of the uprising, an NTC official said the release of the funds meant the NTC now had to show Libyans it was capable of governing. “Before we had the excuse that we didn’t have money when things went wrong,” he said. “Now we don’t have the excuse.”

 

Gamaty reaffirmed the council’s commitment to a ‘clear road map’ to democracy, including a Constitution to be drafted within eight months, a referendum and then full elections in 2013. “By the end of about 20 months the Libyan people will have elected the leaders they want to lead their country,” he said.

 

In Tripoli, life was returning to normal. Municipal street sweepers picked up litter and spent bullet casings on Martyrs Square, known under Gaddafi as Green Square. NTC fighters had removed some roadblocks on a main road along the shoreline and more foodstores were open, although water supplies and power remained erratic.

 

Several thousands of people, mainly women, later gathered in the square singing a new national anthem and carrying banners, which read “For the first time we are free.”