Stalemate

IT would be easy to dismiss the narcissistic ranting of Muammar Gaddafi, broadcast over loudspeakers in the Libyan city of Zawiya, as the despairing cries of a beaten dictator. The reality is, however, that allied forces show little sign of removing the colonel despite an aerial bombardment lasting four months.

The reluctance of the international coalition to commit ground troops is understandable, given the slow and bloody progress made in Iraq and Afghanistan, but it means a despotic leader is able to continue using violence on his own citizens with little end in sight.

It is right that the US has recognised the opposition as Libya’s legitimate governing authority but this is only a diplomatic gesture. It will do nothing to hasten the departure of a man who, having previously plotted to murder Western citizens at Lockerbie, takes a perverse pleasure in defying their governments more than two decades later.

No doubt David Cameron and the leaders of other Nato nations are aware of this but they need to come up with a solution. Indecision will only encourage Gaddafi to cling on.