The latest ripple in the angry wave of revolt is being felt in Libya, where protests are being met with fierce resistance, leading to a bloody battle. Six days since the first echoes of revolt started in Libya, Human Rights Watch has reported that some 200 people have been killed by the security forces and that there are fears of a massacre taking place in the country in an attempt to beat back the rage of the people. Libya’s second largest city, Benghazi, has virtually been taken over by the protestors. Their goal? To oust a ruler who has been in power for more than four decades. Moammer Gaddafi, unlike his counterparts in Tunisia and Egypt, has imposed a rabid crackdown on the dissenting masses, likening the country to a war zone. The anti-regime demonstrations are fast spreading from Benghazi and are now beginning to be felt in the capital city of Tripoli. The ruler, it seems, has employed his supporters along with the security forces, to “shoot without discrimination”. In the meanwhile, Gaddafi’s son, Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, in a televised address, warned protesters that Libya was not Tunisia or Egypt and that civil war could be imminent. He declared that the government would fight to “the last bullet”. These are threatening words indeed. The Arab world is in an unprecedented state of revolt. Tunisia and Egypt have inspired the people into an irrepressible jolt into action. The Libyan protesters are looking to shape the country the way they see fit. Libya itself has, over the years, been fraught with many tensions and debilities. Now that Gaddafi himself is being cornered, it has become important to revisit the importance of this oil-rich country. Unlike other dictators who have been ousted and are now under threat in these revolts, Moammer Gaddafi has had a love-hate relationship with the US and the west. After ousting King Idris from power in 1969, Gaddafi promoted himself as a populist leader, a staunch Arab nationalist and a supporter of Palestinian and anti-imperialist causes. Libya became a base for the support and training of radical left-wing terror groups such as the IRA, Red Army of Germany and Japan, and those supporting the Palestinians. Our very own nuclear scientist gone awry — Dr Strangelove — was exporting nuclear know-how and materials and one of the chief beneficiaries of this enterprise was Libya. Libya, being a supporter of left-wing guerilla movements and a recipient of nuclear proliferation, invited the wrath of the Reagan administration, which bombed Libya in 1986 (during which Gaddafi’s daughter was killed). Some say Lockerbie, which took place in 1988, was a revenge strike by Gaddafi. After Lockerbie came immense diplomatic pressure and the threat of sanctions, due to which Gaddafi had to change his stance to one of compromise. The Lockerbie accused were handed over and nuclear secrets were shared (Pakistan’s international image on its nuclear aspirations has never been the same since). From a populist leader, Gaddafi became a US stooge in the eyes of his people. His iron grip on Libya, the oil and gas wealth of the country and his populism were his trump cards and his image took a nosedive. Now that the wave of revolt is ripe, Libyans seem ready to depose a leader of lost credibility and appeal. This, indeed, is a momentous moment in global history. Libya is a country that, due to its oil riches, shapes international oil markets. If Gaddafi falls, these markets will be adversely impacted, western prosperity fuelled by the oil wealth of the Middle East affected, and the global economy, still reeling from the aftereffects of recession, plunged into a tailspin. Arab despots are finally answering to history. Will history also take to task the supporters and beneficiaries of their rule?*