Qaddafi’s son says he’s done with politics
MAHMUD TURKIA/AFP/Getty Images Seif al-Islam al-Qaddafi, the powerful son of Libya’s mercurial strongman ruler, told a crowd of young Libyans Friday that Arabs are “living in a forest of dictatorships” and that Libya should become democratic. The New York Times is running an AP story on this with the headline, “Gadhafi’s son announces withdrawal from ...
MAHMUD TURKIA/AFP/Getty Images
Seif al-Islam al-Qaddafi, the powerful son of Libya's mercurial strongman ruler, told a crowd of young Libyans Friday that Arabs are "living in a forest of dictatorships" and that Libya should become democratic.
The New York Times is running an AP story on this with the headline, "Gadhafi's son announces withdrawal from politics." If true, it would be significant, since Seif al-Islam has been spearheading Libya's economic reforms and its opening to the West and has been widely viewed as the heir apparent. The New Yorker's Andrew Solomon profiled him at length in 2006.
Seif al-Islam al-Qaddafi, the powerful son of Libya’s mercurial strongman ruler, told a crowd of young Libyans Friday that Arabs are “living in a forest of dictatorships” and that Libya should become democratic.
The New York Times is running an AP story on this with the headline, “Gadhafi’s son announces withdrawal from politics.” If true, it would be significant, since Seif al-Islam has been spearheading Libya’s economic reforms and its opening to the West and has been widely viewed as the heir apparent. The New Yorker‘s Andrew Solomon profiled him at length in 2006.
“I have achieved my program. The train is currently on rails. I have no more big battles to fight and my position is becoming embarrassing,” Afrol News quotes the younger Qaddafi as saying. “I have decided no longer to intervene in state affairs,” AFP reports him announcing.
I’m skeptical. At some point, he’ll probably make a triumphal return in line with “the demands of the people” and be elected in some sham process. Gamal Mubarak has said similar things, and I’m sure Bashar al-Assad did the same. Just watch. He’ll be back.
More from Foreign Policy


Is Cold War Inevitable?
A new biography of George Kennan, the father of containment, raises questions about whether the old Cold War—and the emerging one with China—could have been avoided.


So You Want to Buy an Ambassadorship
The United States is the only Western government that routinely rewards mega-donors with top diplomatic posts.


Can China Pull Off Its Charm Offensive?
Why Beijing’s foreign-policy reset will—or won’t—work out.


Turkey’s Problem Isn’t Sweden. It’s the United States.
Erdogan has focused on Stockholm’s stance toward Kurdish exile groups, but Ankara’s real demand is the end of U.S. support for Kurds in Syria.