Jose Maria Aznar…What After Libya?

Ghassan Khoury     Al-Hayat     2003/09/29

Madrid

The Spanish and international public opinion was divided over the visit of Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar to Libya. The opposition, and even the media close to the government, reminded him that he was the one who said that a terrorist is a terrorist, whether he's in Bali, New York, Baghdad, or anywhere else. Critics blamed him for standing by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, who is responsible for crimes that exceed in number by hundreds those of Josu Ternera (a member of the Basque terrorist organization ETA).

Does paying the compensations to the victims' families forgo public right? Could a country pay the price for entering the international community and get a discharge of it? Is there a precedent that when someone admits he perpetrated a crime, the judges must only settle the material compromise? These questions were recently asked but found no answers in the UN or with Aznar who was the first Spanish prime minister to visit Libya after less than a week passed on lifting the sanctions.

The world's leaders outdid themselves to display their tolerance, 11 years after they imposed the severe blockade. Before the questions asked by the international media or those of analysts, we find that the Spanish prime minister's attitude was positive as far as Spain's interests and true at the personal level. It concurred with his ideas and convictions regarding the Arabs, Muslims, the U.S. and Europe.

Aznar, who said in Libya that the Republic will certainly succeed in its new direction as one patience and will to start working, paid the price for his alliance with the U.S. by being sidelined by the great European countries. However, he still believes that he plays in the 'first-rate team' and is thus, carrying out his projects with patience and decisiveness. He succeeded so far in his international wager despite coming under harsh criticisms. He always expressed his friendship to the Arab world and his desire to reach peace. Furthermore, he made every possible effort to defend Syria when the administration of his ally Bush was accusing it of various deeds. He is trying to bring together the positions of these two sides through mediation, which results have yet to be seen, just like the results of his months-long unofficial contacts with Libya. The tour of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Anna Palacio in the Middle East, which always includes Syria, appears to be for 'unofficial reasons' as well.

But the important question remains: why Libya, why Aznar and not Tony Blair, who was the one to come up with the project to lift the sanctions? Why today? Whose turn will it be after Syria, or maybe before it, if the situation remains unchanged? Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, Latin American countries or Cuba? Would all those countries be Aznar's missions? All the suggestions and solutions are possible but the means and preparations are still insufficient, according to sole superpower and to those who were 'devils' yesterday and became by miracle or by an American decision, 'the factors of stability and security in the world.' The Spanish prime minister said during his visit to the Libyan republic that he is looking to the future and not to the past and he insisted on his desire to totally normalize the international presence of this country. He asserted that Cuba is following exactly the opposite way Libya followed. But he did not explain the right way or the criterion that was adopted to differentiate those who lost the way and those who followed it. Was it the tendency to democracy, carrying out the elections, respecting the human rights, privatizing the state's facilities and granting the peoples their essential rights and the social justice in addition to the things we enjoy and the others hope for. Or does it reside in another thing that changed the republic; after all we heard about from the Western countries about it, into a country "that could be considered as a factor for stability and security in the world…that started its positive steps by committing to fight terror, being present in the official institutions and to seeking to participate in the forums such as the World Trade Organization and in the track of the internal reforms in addition to opening its economy according to Aznar. Nice words that should be applied in many countries in the world. No doubt that Libya is ready to cancel the past and open a new page in its history. We still remember who prevented Libya from entering the international institutions and was against it entering the WTO and other international organizations. Why was it marginalized from the Middle East forums and why was the house of the leader bombed? Will someone compensate the death of his daughter during this bombing? Before visiting the tent of the Libyan leader, Jose Maria Aznar saw the house destroyed by Ronald Reagan's planes in 1986 that Gadhafi left as a witness on the U.S. revenge and the law of the jungle that is contrary to the international legitimacy machines. What changed between yesterday and today? The republic, General Moammar Gadhafi or the values and priorities of the Western world so it became possible to discharge (under the alibi of fighting terror) the one who shows readiness to serve the drawers of the new world order, provided that he has natural resources. Gadhafi, who did not change and will probably not, tried to change the world around him and failed, but when he became disappointed, he started changing Libya.

Aznar has been able so far to preserve his special status as the U.S. ally and at the same time, the friend of the Arab and Islamic world and the good mediator to settle its crises. Although his delegation to Tripoli included a number of top corporate representatives, some of whom used to work in Libya while the rest is hoping to enter the market, he met General Gadhafi for around four hours, but he did not mention the issues they addressed. It seems that Spain, which supported the U.S. in its war on Iraq, is harvesting the gains of this war in an honest way. Aznar admitted he discussed trade relations in Libya, and that Gadhafi reportedly told the businessmen: "Anyone who runs into a problem in Libya can call me personally."

The visit had both local and foreign dimensions, which results might appear in the near future. The Libyan leader criticized his Prime Minister because he did not finish the project of privatizing the state companies. Then he said in a speech: "The war ended and it is time for peace." Although we do not know about which war or peace he is talking, we could witness a new surprise from the Libyan General, for he started being convinced that oil is not enough and that he should adopt the policy of liberalizing the economy in order to follow the path of globalization. It seems that the only thing General Gadhafi did not accept is the normalization with Israel, for the Spanish prime minister avoided, at least openly, talking about this issue including holding a European and Middle East conference similar to Barcelona II, in addition to his host's opinion on the peace process, except regarding the Roadmap.