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Was it a mistake to overthrow Gaddafi?

Nato helped overthrow Muammar Gaddafi's brutal rule. But is Libya any better off today?

In 2011, a Nato-led coalition intervened with lethal air power to aide forces taking part in an uprising against Libya鈥檚 brutal military leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Shortly after, Col Gaddafi was caught and killed by rebels and there were high hopes the country would become a safer and more open place. But since then, fighting between militias has destroyed much of Libya and two rival governments now vie for full control of the country. As talks take place at the UN in Geneva this week aimed at addressing the crisis, we ask whether it was a mistake for the West to help overthrow Gaddafi? As the government led by General Khalifa Haftar from his base in Benghazi gains increasing influence, is the battle for Libya nearing its completion? And as Gen Haftar is accused of overseeing a crackdown on dissent in the parts of the country he runs, would a Libya governed by him be any better than the one run by Col Gaddafi?

Available now

53 minutes

Last on

Sat 29 Feb 2020 04:06GMT

Image

Supporters of Libyan military strongman Khalika Haftar take part in a demonstration in the coastal city of Benghazi in eastern Libya, against Turkish intervention in the country鈥檚 affairs on February 14, 2020. Credit: AFP / Getty Images

Contributors

Jonathan Winer, US Special Envoy for Libya between 2013 and 2016

Marwa Mohamed, from Lawyers for Justice in Libya

Assem Mihirig, a Libyan businessman based in Montreal who, before the revolution, used hip-hop as a tool of resistance against the Col Gaddafi's rule

Also featuring:

David Kirkpatrick, international correspondent for the New York Times

Claudia Gazzini, senior Libya analyst at the Crisis Group

Broadcasts

  • Fri 28 Feb 2020 09:06GMT
  • Sat 29 Feb 2020 00:06GMT
  • Sat 29 Feb 2020 03:06GMT
  • Sat 29 Feb 2020 04:06GMT

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