Why I Wanted Ghaddafi Alive?

By Jamal Elabiad

“Ghaddafi could have chosen a different ending.” wrote a New York Times’ editor.

I expected that Muammar Ghaddafi would have a terrible ending when he ignored all his allies’ offers on how to step down, but I it never came to mind that Muammar Ghaddafi would be captured and shot to death by the rebels.

My expectation of Ghaddafi’s ending was that he would be arrested and handed over to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the crimes he committed against the Libyans.  There are many reasons why I was one of those who wanted him alive, not dead. The most important one was that Muammar Ghaddafi, if he had not been murdered, would have revealed during a trail before the ICC a lot of secrets about many Western presidents and ministers, including Nicolas Sarkozy, Golden Brown, and Tony Blair. 

Moreover, Muammar Ghaddafi would have unveiled many truths about the Libyan opposition simply because many of its members had served him faithfully for a long time.  And the least we could have known from Muammar Ghaddafi’s trial was the story of the photo album that was found in his abandoned Tripoli compound, and that was filled with images of Condoleezza Rice, a former American secretary of state!

I do add my voice to many Arab and Western columnists who attributed the killing of Muammar Ghaddafi to the fact that if he hadn’t been killed, his trial would have led to the fall of many western leaders and members of the Libyan opposition. Ghaddafi’s trial, in brief, could have marked the start of the fall of those who were once close friends of Muammar Ghaddafi. Possibly, this is one of the many endings the New York Times’ editor had in mind when he wrote: “Ghaddafi could have chosen a different ending.”