Leader: Leave Libyans to build their own nation and future

AFTER the jubilation of celebrating national liberation, Libya’s victorious rebel leaders must settle down quickly to the urgent task of nation rebuilding.

National Transitional Council (NTC) leader Mustafa Abdul Jalil has made a good start, urging forgiveness and reconciliation.

The NTC also has many assets it can deploy, notably the billions of dollars of Libyan government money in overseas bank accounts which can now be unfrozen and put to reconstruction work. There are also the country’s oil and gas resources which can start to flow again.

The NTC’s main problem will be in meeting liberation expectations. Belief, now the hated tyrant is dead, that life will not just be free of oppression, but much more prosperous, will be high among the people. It will also be high among the factions making up the NTC and which have been united chiefly by hatred of the Gaddafi regime. Mr Jalil’s first political task is to make sure that momentum towards a new democratic Libya is sufficiently strong to keep them constructively occupied. For western powers, particularly those who participated in military action in support of the rebellion, the temptation will be to remain involved, even if only to make sure things do not veer off track. But the wisest course is to withdraw gracefully to the sidelines and limit activity to assistance only when requested. The Libyans have shown themselves to be a highly capable and resourceful people whose ability to build a better future for themselves should be respected.