Outspoken anti-imperialist proponent and Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr., says he is appalled at the killing of former Libyan leader Muammar Qathafi by NATO and Transitional Forces, and has described his death as an assassination and an act of terrorism that needs to be condemned in the strongest possible terms.
It would be recalled that in April this year, Mr Pratt, a forefront member of the Coalition Against Foreign Military Interventions In Africa (CAFIA) co-led a massive demonstration against NATO�s invasion of Libya maintaining that that the issue of Qathafi being a dictator or not was for the people of Libya to decide and not NATO.
To him, to take the life of any leader, be he a democrat or a dictator, is an illegality.
�Killing any Head of State, whether he is a dictator or a democrat; what NATO has done is appalling, it�s disgraceful and needs to be condemned in the strongest possible terms. This is an assassination, this is illegal and this is an act of terrorism��
Libya's Col Muammar Qathafi was toppled from power in August after 42 years in charge of the country. He was making his last stand in Sirte alongside two of his sons, Mutassim and Saif al-Islam.
He was killed in crossfire after being captured in his birthplace of Sirte, after being shot in the head in an exchange between Gaddafi loyalists and National Transitional Council fighters.
Acting Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril who confirmed this said Col Gaddafi, who had been taken alive, had died before reaching hospital.
Video footage suggests Col Gaddafi was dragged through the streets. It is unclear from the footage, broadcast by al-Jazeera TV, whether he was alive or dead at the time.
Later, Mr Jibril told journalists that a "forensic report" had concluded that the colonel had died from bullet wounds after he had been captured and driven away.
"When the car was moving it was caught in crossfire between the revolutionaries and Gaddafi forces in which he was hit by a bullet in the head," he said, quoting from the report.
"The forensic doctor could not tell if it came from the revolutionaries or from Qaddafi's forces."
The body of Col Gaddafi was also taken to Misrata.
Speaking on Multi TV�s PM: Epxress programme on Thursday evening, Kwesi Pratt opined that the grisly assassination of the former Libyan leader and the NATO-backed war against Gathafi as a disgrace to the continent.
A staunch adherent of Nkrumahism, which positively defies imperialism and its modern form, neocolonialism, Comrade Pratt who has been a longstanding opponent of NATO�s military occupation of Libya said the invasion is a modern day scramble for oil by imperialist forces.
�Without the intervention of NATO, no force in Libya could have overthrown Qathafi, let alone assassinate him. The rebels have been successful primarily because of the support they have received from NATO and that says something about the support that he has within Libya��
In answer to whether, Qathafi�s death will mark a turning point in the lives of Libyans, Kwesi Pratt stressed that this will be no different from what has happened in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.
To him, Qathafi was �an enigmatic figure. He was full of contradictions. He opposed the monarchy; he overthrew the monarchy, and gained respect for that: and then he sought to become a [monarch]�Qathafi will also be remembered as a person who worked hard to uplift the living standards of the Libyan people.�
Source: Peacefmonline.com
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