Quote Originally Posted by HoreTore View Post
The end of an era of oppression, bloodshed and insanity.
I wouldn't bet on it. Libya has nothing remotely resembling a civil society; everyone and everything was state-controlled since 1969. The country is rich and at the same time deeply divided between regions and tribes and local bureaucracies. That has never been a recipe for equitable development. Think of Iraq: who gets the oil, who gets the harbour(s), who sits across someone else's pipeline, who benefits from the proceeds?

The least we should hope for is that the country will now open up to the outside world and not hunker down behind a wall of new-found religious fundamentalism or tribal barriers.

AII