For a New Libya, Major Challenges Lie Ahead

With the breaking of Libya's many-month stalemate, the end of a 42-year reign of megalomaniacal tyranny has arrived. As the rebels attempt to consolidate power in Tripoli, however, what lies ahead for Libya as a nation and for the foreign powers that paved the way for Moammar Gadhafi's ouster remains far from certain. Key to the future of a viable Libya will be law, stabilization and reconstruction so that civil society can be re-established swiftly.

After four decades of inequity, revenge will be hard to avoid. Nonetheless, Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) has emphasized to rebel fighters that retribution against Gadhafi loyalists must be legally based, handled through the council and not dispensed ad hoc. Although Gadhafi and his lieutenants have been called to account by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, most of his government's atrocities were against the Libyan people themselves. Justice appropriately meted out at home would be best, providing catharsis to the local population while avoiding any shadow of Western prejudice. ...