Moammar Gadhafi and his potential heirs

By now there is an almost worldwide consensus about the need to get rid of the dictator, a consensus bucked only by a few odious characters like Hugo the Comical Chavez, Fidel the Beard Castro and, not so strangely, Nicaraguan strong man Daniel Ortega. Even Mahmoud the Mad expressed his reservations about the other madman of the Muslim world (probably looking forward to remaining alone at the summit of madness).

While the world is buzzing and loudly supporting the idea of freeing itself of Gadhafi, the question of his replacement is sounding very quietly, if at all. And it's a pity, because some strange things are happening in the background almost unnoticed, while Libyans are fighting against the regime. A good sample is this article from CNN.

Meanwhile, Libya's deputy amassador to the world body, Ibrahim Dabbashi, indicated Saturday that he and fellow diplomats "support ... in principle" a caretaker administration to lead Libya under the direction of former Justice Minister Mustafa Abdul Jalil.

The former Justice Minister Mustafa Abdul Jalil (or Mustafa Abud Al Jeleil according to Wiki) is rather an unknown entity so far. Even his career in Gadhafi's government is not yet documented (at least in English) for public. For the sake of fairness: he appeared as a good guy before the current uprising, in August 2010, when he "has reportedly taken a strong stance against arbitrary arrests and prolonged detention without trial". Good for him. His other anti-Gadhafi actions, starting with his resignation, all date several days after the revolt in Libya got serious.

But the chief point in favor of the man who, according to some rumors, has already been crowned as, at least, a head of the new interim government, is his "revelation" about Gadhafi's role in the Lockerbie bombing.

"I have evidence that Gadhafi ordered the Lockerbie," Mustafa Abdul Jalil is reported to have told the newspaper [Swedish tabloid Expressen], though the article cited no specifics.

Wow. So a hitherto unknown minister has evidence of a crime that, presented to appropriate authorities, can put the tyrant into hot (or even boiling) water indeed. This is a big deal. Or... but let's take it slowly. First of all, the tyrant in question is being deposed as we speak and, besides, he submits his readiness to die fighting anyhow. So, if the revolt succeeds, the newly surfaced evidence will hardly be of any value, unless we are talking about the history books. And anyhow there was little doubt that Gadhafi gave the order. Not that this knowledge prevented many a Western politico from exchanging spit with the bastard. But it was a side remark, let's go back to our interim chief.

So, the real question to be asked is: how did it so happen that the evidence of the tyrant's complicity in an act of mass murder surfaced only now, after the beginning of the revolt and our good minister resignation? No doubt we'll soon know more about Mr Abdul Jalil and his years in the Libyan government. However, it is highly doubtful that this evidence fell into his hands only recently. And if so, meaning if Mr Abdul Jalil knew about the evidence all these years, are we looking at a sudden inflammation of hitherto comfortably sleeping conscience? Or at something else?

If my doubt has any legs, what we are looking at is not exactly an exalted freedom fighter. And not even a rat fleeing the sinking ship. Rather a rat using the current calamity to become a captain.

And more: if Mr Abdul Jalil has chosen to come up with the truth on Lockerbie bombing right now, after years of silence, just because his boss is going to fall down hard, it makes him not exactly a hero - rather an accomplice, stupid one to boot.

We shall know soon.

Cross-posted on Yourish.com