THE ANTI-WEST leadership of AKEL and President Christofias seized the opportunity to attack the coalition forces that have bombed targets in Libya. “Merciless bombing”, said yesterday’s banner headline of the party mouthpiece, while the previous day, Christofias made it clear that “we do not give our blessing to military operations, even of this type.”
While he had no objection to democracy prevailing in Libya and other Arab countries this was no way to achieve it. “This (democracy) is a matter for the people, a sovereign right, and a case of the sovereignty of the people of these countries.” What should happen when a ruthless dictator like Colonel Gaddafi, does not recognise the sovereignty of the people that Christofias values so much? What sovereignty of the people exists in countries under totalitarian regimes?
AKEL and the president did not show the same sensitivity when Gaddafi’s forces were mercilessly massacring the Libyan rebels, who were demanding the overthrow of the tyrant and the holding of elections. Libyans decided to take up arms against a repressive, dictatorship, and Western powers have decided to help them out, when it became clear that Gaddafi would use all military means at his disposal to crush them.
Would AKEL have preferred that the colonel was left free to massacre the rebels, which was certain to happen? Would the sovereignty of the Libyan people have been safeguarded in this way? The pathological hatred for the evil West that AKEL’s leadership has always nursed does not allow rationality to influence their hackneyed rhetoric. The president, who supposedly supports democracy in Libya, did not suggest how it would be achieved, if Gaddafi stayed in power.
Meanwhile the AKEL chief Andros Kyprianou yesterday took the moral high ground, describing the attack as “a violation of international law”. He did not agree with the view that the coalition forces were implementing UN resolutions. “The UN resolution did not envisage this attack,” he declared. But did it not? UN resolution 1973 “authorises member-states…. to take all necessary measures to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, including Benghazi, while excluding an occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory …”
Perhaps Kyprianou, as an expert on international law, should inform us what is meant by “all necessary measures to protect civilians”. The problem is that Cyprus’ communists will always censure the actions of the evil West, even when these actions are aimed at protecting people and have the full backing of the UN. We hope they will have enough sense not to come out in support of the alleged victim of the West – Gaddafi.
