A New Society of Tolerance and Respect for the Law....Libya....Painful Re-birth

Libya's new interim leaders have assured world leaders they will build a society full of tolerance and respect for the rule of law. Speaking at a Paris meeting, National Transitional Council (NTC) head Mustafa Abdel Jalil promised a new constitution and elections within 18 months.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who chaired the meeting, stressed the need for "reconciliation and forgiveness". He said air strikes would go on as long as ex-leader Col Gaddafi was a threat. ( Where is Mr Gadaffi??) Mr Sarkozy said all 63 nations at the meeting were committed to returning frozen assets to the Libyan people. (Just make sure someone supervises that a little Mr Sarkozy. Huge amounts of money notoriously go astray in middle-eastern countries. Even more so when no one is really in charge)

Col Gaddafi has still not been captured by the interim authorities. In an audio message broadcast on a loyalist TV channel on Thursday, he vowed he would never surrender. He was speaking on the 42nd anniversary of his emergence as Libya's leader, which until last year was an occasion for annual celebrations in the country.
(Wasn't Gadaffi a supposedly, interim leader also??)This year there were flag-waving celebrations in Tripoli's main square to mark the date - only the flags were the black, green and red colours of the NTC rather than the all-green of the Gaddafi regime, and the square is now known as Martyrs' Square, rather than the Green Square.

Nicolas Sarkozy: "The participants are going to ask the NTC to undertake a process of reconciliation." Mr Sarkozy held the conference jointly with UK Prime Minister David Cameron - the two leaders who were instrumental in passing the UN resolution that allowed Nato forces to intervene in Libya. And both men stressed that Nato would continue its involvement as long as it was needed to protect civilians. "We are determined to continued with Nato strikes for as long as Mr Gaddafi and his supporters represent a threat to Libya," said Mr Sarkozy. And Mr Sarkozy said everyone had agreed to unfreeze assets blocked when Col Gaddafi was still in power. "After going around the table, it's about $15bn of Libyan assets in our countries that are immediately unfrozen," he said. He added that the NTC must engage in reconciliation in order to avoid the mistakes made in other countries.

Mr Cameron urged the council to make sure perpetrators of the "unspeakable crimes" that were coming to light in Tripoli were brought to justice. This was not a moment of triumph, but it was clear that the British Prime Minister David Cameron and the French President Nicolas Sarkozy took quiet satisfaction from the turn of events in Libya.

Nonetheless the emphasis throughout this Paris meeting was on the actions of the Libyans themselves; both what they have achieved already ("it is the Libyan people who have liberated Libya" said Mr Cameron) but also what they must still achieve in the future. NTC chairman Mustafa Abdul Jalil called on his people to establish a society marked by tolerance, forgiveness and respect for the rule of law.

This is a message that plays well in Western capitals but these aspirations are a measure of the huge task facing Libya's new interim authorities. A war must still be won while dealing with a looming humanitarian crisis encompassing shortages of water, medicines and food. And the institutions for a new Libyan democracy must also be constructed from scratch. But it is a sign that the NTC has been accepted by most of the world as the new face of Libya and that the international focus is beginning to move from conflict to reconstruction.

The EU announced on Thursday that it had lifted sanctions on 28 entities - including oil firms and port authorities - to help the NTC get the economy moving again. The decision will take effect on Friday. The NTC received a further diplomatic boost on Thursday when Russia formally recognised its authority.

They still need to find Gadaffi and mete him due justice. He remains a symbol of everything they are trying to abolish. They will get full closure when the author of their years of hardship and deprivation is where he belongs, locked safely away or possibly executed.