Libyans see Gaddafi as 'irrelevant'
2011-09-15 12:24
Washington - Libyans now see fugitive strongman Muammar Gaddafi as "irrelevant", even if their new leaders know Libya will not be fully liberated until he is captured, a US envoy said on Wednesday.
Jeffrey Feltman, the assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs, said after visiting Tripoli that he also found the Libyan capital to be "remarkably normal in atmosphere", with stores open and traffic flowing.
"No one knows where Gaddafi is, no one knows how much money he has access to," Feltman told reporters in telephone conference call after meeting civil society representatives and National Transitional Council (NTC) leaders.
However, based on his conversations with civil society, Feltman said "it's almost as if Gaddafi has become irrelevant. It's as if they have moved on, beyond Gaddafi."
"In terms of the people we met today, to the extent that they are representative of the country as a whole, Gaddafi is already part of the past," he added.
However, he acknowledged that the NTC, the country's interim governing authority, "recognises that you can't declare that the country is fully liberated until Gaddafi is apprehended, until the danger to Libya's civilians ends across the board."
But he added: "Politically, he's already finished."
And while it's "possible for him to be a nuisance and unleash violence in a way, I don't see any possibility, based on what we saw now, of him reversing what the NTC and the Libyan people have gained," Feltman said.
Different kind of society
Feltman also played down any threat from Islamists when asked about the influence of Abdelhakim Belhaj, whose fighters stormed Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya sprawling and fortified headquarters in Tripoli on August 23.
The US envoy acknowledged that some people were wondering whether Belhaj, who is suspected of having links with al-Qaeda, was emerging as a militia leader would control Tripoli.
"The answer to that question is 'no' because now you have a political process and you are having a debate over what kind of civilian reporting chain the militias will report to," Feltman said.
Feltman also said "al-Qaeda's ideology right now doesn't seem to have much resonance among the people of Libya", who aspire to a very different kind of society.
Indeed, he said, Libya's powerful tribes are exerting their influence to make sure people do not go astray and join extremists Islamist groups.
US officials said Feltman has left Libya but did not say from which country he was speaking.
Feltman said he met NTC chairperson leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil and number two Mahmud Jibril as well as Ali Tarhuni, who serves as deputy prime minister, economy and finance minister and oil minister.
He also saw the ministers of justice and health.