Qadhafi death emboldens Arab revolts

The killing of Libya's former strongman Muammar Qadhafi has raised fresh hopes for people in other Arab countries that their pro-democracy revolts will eventually prevail, analysts say. "Qadhafi's end sends two messages to the Arab countries being swept by popular uprisings, mainly in Syria and Yemen," said Mustafa Kamel a professor of political science at the American University in Cairo.
"The first message encourages people of these countries who want to change their autocrats that, however obstinate their rulers are, they will eventually be eliminated," he told dpa. The other message, according to Kamel, relates to the logic of the Arab rulers. "Gripped by the vanity of power, these leaders are labouring under the illusion that, with more brutal force against their people, they can quell popular revolts," he added. Kamel does not rule out the possibility that uprisings in Syria and Yemen, gripped by anti-government protests for more than eight months, will turn to violence.
"This possibility is based on the fact that there are increasing army defections in both countries," said Kamel. More than 3,000 people have been killed in Syria since the pro-democracy protests erupted in mid-March, according to the United Nations. In Yemen, at least 1,480 people had been killed by September in clashes between supporters and opponents of President Ali Abdullah Saleh that began February, according to government figures. "Qadhafi's tragic end is a lesson," said Ahmed Harmel, a Yemeni analyst.
"Will the dictators Saleh and (Syrian President Bashar) al-Assad heed the lesson and escape by the skin of teeth as did their Tunisian comrade, (former president) Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali?" A popular uprising in Tunisia, heralding what came to be called the Arab Spring, forced Ben Ali to step down in January and flee to Saudi Arabia, after ruling with an iron fist for 24 years.
"Saleh and al-Assad have to learn this lesson before being forced either to end up inside a court cage like the toppled (Egyptian) president Hosny Mubarak or to be killed like Qadhafi," he added. Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for 30 years, was toppled in February - making him the second Arab leader to be ousted by his people.
Mubarak, 83, is being tried on charges of ordering the killing of peaceful protesters and corruption. "Qadhafi's killing marks a victory for the will of the Arab people," said Saad al-Katatni, a senior official in the Freedom and Justice Party of Egypt's influential opposition Muslim Brotherhood. "It proves that dictatorial regimes will always be vanquished," he added.
Dozens of Syrians and Yemenis took to the streets on Friday, in jubilation over Qadhafi's death. "The killing of Qadhafi provides an impetus to the Syrian and Yemeni revolutions," said Mohamed Abu Roman, a researcher at the Jordanian University. He told Al Ghad newspaper on Friday that media coverage of the Arab revolts were influential in keeping them alive. "The photo of Qadhafi lying dead will motivate the revolutionaries in Yemen and Syria," he added. Apart from brief official comments in Egypt and Iraq, the Arab governments have kept silent on Qadhafi's death.
However, newspapers in several Arab countries hit the stands on Friday with headlines on Qadhafi's killing. "A tyrant's end," commented the Egyptian state-run newspaper Al Akhbar in a banner headline. The front-page story was accompanied by a big photo of Qadhafi's body.