More than ever before, this is a time when Arab and Muslim worlds need unity in the face of the challenges they face. The occupation and humiliation of Palestine, the still dangerous terrorist threat feeding on the chaos following the US-led invasion of Iraq and the long-standing need to tackle poverty and backwardness all require Arab and Muslim states to be working together. Yet, there is clear evidence that an Arab leader thought this was the right time to assassinate another.
No one knows what cause Libya’s Col. Qaddafi imagined he would serve by having Crown Prince Abdullah assassinated. Libya and the Kingdom have neither a common border nor any competing ambitions. True, Qaddafi has denied that there was any such plot. But then, he is a man who has notched up an unenviable record in denials, most of which have later been followed by admissions made by Tripoli about their country’s involvement in crimes. The Lockerbie bombing was long denied, then finally admitted as part of the rehabilitation of the maverick regime into the international community. The existence of WMD programs was flatly denied time and again but was finally admitted, again as part of the rehabilitation deal. Similar denials, followed by admissions have been made about the downing of a French airliner and the supply of weapons to terror groups such as the IRA. So quixotic has Libyan behavior been that even the eventual admissions have sometimes later been denied. Thus after Libya came in from the cold after it had admitted its responsibility for Lockerbie, senior politicians began to claim that the admission was only to end the regime’s isolation and that there had been no link whatsoever to the Lockerbie carnage. Then the denial was denied.
Though the Kingdom sees no reason to give any credence to the denial, making a clear distinction between the Libyan leader and the Libyan people, it has kept its reaction carefully measured. The government has stopped short of a rupture in diplomatic relations. Instead the Kingdom’s ambassador has been recalled from Tripoli and the Libyan foreign office told to withdraw their ambassador.
Now the ball is firmly in Qaddafi’s court. The Libyans will need to reassess their position and come clean about their terrible assassination plan and who called for its formulation and why. The Arab world does not need a loose cannon at this critical moment. At least now, Qaddafi must make an attempt to grow up. If his regime acts with maturity and honesty, it could even use the current diplomatic strain as a step toward rebuilding good relations.
What is definitely not needed is another immature display of street politics such as that which led to threats of attack on the Saudi Embassy in Tripoli last March. The challenges facing the Arab region and the Muslim community are simply too grave to have any of the nations behaving like a rogue state. Enemies of the Muslim and Arab world will be only too eager to exploit any differences among them.
