Libyan opposition activists, rebels foresee a ‘democratic, secular’ replacement of Kadhafi

Libyan opposition activists, rebels foresee a ‘democratic, secular’ replacement of Kadhafi
Special to USAfricaonline.com

Mar 23, 2011 (AFP) – Representatives of the Libyan opposition’s Interim National Council said in Paris late Tuesday that a post-Kadhafi regime would be

“secular and democratic. “They also predicted that the embattled Libyan leader, who has continued to press against rebel-held towns despite a UN-backed military campaign, would fall quickly, opening the way for a rebuilding of Libyan society.”The future Libya will be democratic and secular,” said Mansour Saif Al-Nasr, an emissary, though not a member, of the interim council, based in the rebel-held stronghold of Benghazi.

“The Libyan people are a moderate people, and the state will not be led by clerics,” he told a large gathering writers, ex-ministers and reporters assembled by Bernard Henry-Levy, a French intellectual who helped facilitate France’s recognition of the rebel authority.A second opposition spokesman, Ali Zeidan, said rebel forces needed military hardware to defend their positions and pressure the Kadhafi regime. “We want the coalition to continue to destroy the military capacity of Kadhafi,” said Ali Zeidan, the council’s informal spokesman in Europe. “We have the men. What we are asking for is the arms.”Coalition forces — led by the United States, France and Britain and including other European states along with Qatar — have launched air strikes since Saturday, acting under a UN Security Council resolution authorizing “all necessary means” to protect civilians in Libya. Despite the limited scope of the UN mandate and lack of military hardware under rebel control, opposition leaders predicted a rapid end to Kadhafi’s rule.

The conflict could be over “in ten days if the air strikes continue with the same intensity to take out armoured cars and heavy artillery. We have enough men to march on Tripoli, we are sure of victory,” Ali Zeidan said.

France was the first nation to recognition the rebel-led authority, which it did on March 10 following a meeting in Paris between Council members and French president Nicolas Sarkozy.

“In Libya, now they say, ‘One, Two, Three, merci Sarkozy’,” said Al-Nasr. Britain quickly followed suit, identifying the opposition body as its “valid interlocutor.”

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