Negotiating an Exit

Amid military retreat, Qadhafi looks for an exit in Washington

A Libyan rebel takes position during fighting against forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi in Libya's western mountain region of Qala'a on 7 June 2011.

Hussain Abdul-Hussain
The Majalla

Veteran "Washington Post" journalist, David Ignatius, wrote in his column that the US administration was expecting an emissary from Muammar Qadhafi's right-hand man, Abdullah Al-Senussi Al-Megrahi. The Libyan envoy presumably carries an offer to end the Libya war in return for Qadhafi retiring to the desert and allowing for the formation of a government of "technocrats" that would supervise this transition.

There is talk in Washington that President Barack Obama will soon host an emissary sent by Libyan director of military intelligence, Abdullah Al-Senussi Al-Megrahi, to negotiate an exit for Qadhafi and his team. Washington Post journalist, David Ignatius, known for his proximity to President Barak Obama and Washington's intelligence circles, recommended in his column that Obama accept the settlement, saying that Qadhafi has managed to bring the Libya war to a stalemate, and that earlier assessments of the mountain of cash the Libyan autocrat sits on might be $10 billion, not $6 billion as previously believed.

Yet news reports from Libya were showing Ignatius wrong as rebels were making significant advances on Tripoli. While retreating, the Qadhafi forces are proving increasingly weak, without the ability to mount any counter-attacks to win back lost territory.

Reports in Washington also had it that after receiving the envoy of Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, in Tripoli last week, the Libyan ruler realized that he had lost all international favor, which he had previously banked on to confront an internal uprising supported by NATO firepower. "He looks crazy, but he is much smarter than we think," a US commentator said on TV. "Only few sovereigns could survive ruling their country for more than 40 years with an iron fist, and still get away with it," the commentator argued.

So the crazy-looking Qadhafi seems smart enough to realize that his clinging on to power has come to a closing point, and that he has to drop all his bravado talk about fighting to the end. As such, Qadhafi's right-hand man, Al-Megrahi, who belongs to the powerful Maqarha tribe, might have counseled his boss that it is best for everyone to let go now.

It seems that Qadhafi seeks American guarantees that he would not be prosecuted or sent into exile. Qhahafi "will give up power and retreat into the desert," Ignatius wrote, adding that Senussi, "widely feared in Libya, would apparently also withdraw from power." Ignatius concluded: "The US response could not be learnt... the correct answer for the Obama administration would be yes."