The summit in Paris meets in much more favourable circumstances than might have seemed likely not long ago. The Gaddafi regime is over for sure. What replaces it is not clear, but it is clear that the Libyan people are united in wanting to rebuild their country and install freedom at its core. The NTC shows itself to be, in very difficult circumstances, an efficient and fair administrator where it is organised. The Libyan people themselves are showing resource and ingenuity where it is not.
To convert all this into a functioning democracy operating with a broad consensus and a national dynamic is a tough road, but by no means impossible; indeed most can see the way ahead. Meanwhile the restoration of services, facilities and the wherewithal of daily life are critical to the maintenance of this momentum. Also critical is the establishment of law and order by a recognised authority enjoying public trust, in the form of some sort of police. At present armed civilians are doing this in Tripoli neighborhood by neighberhood; fine in the short term but with the potential for disaster. Almost the whole population appears to be armed and well supplied with ammunition.
All is not over in the war. The battle for Sirte is not won. There are said to be pockets of loyalists in the south. Too much is being made of whether Gaddafi is caught or not. He is already history for Libya. His machine, his family’s control of the levers of power, his mystique as a revolutionary leader, his military and his assets are all gone. Sooner or later he will turn up somewhere and when he does it will make a lot of news but little difference. If he is taken alive, his chances of asylum in some quitet oasis of retirement have diminished or entirely gone, as a consequence of the grim and terrible discoveries of the atrocities of his forces and the poignant list, tens of thousands long, of those of his citizens who have disappeared without trace.
The Paris summit must address these many priorities. The military action appears to be drawing to a successful conclusion; a welcome alternative to the failures of recent years. A stable, democratic, prosperous and free Libya is not here yet. A failure of planning , policy or will at this critical moment would mean that it never will be. Because of the brightening prospect, the stakes too are raised. The international community must raise its game to meet the challenge. The Libyan people have shown they deserve our best efforts.