Former Libyan leader dies as last bastion falls, but questions remain about the circumstances of his death.
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• Mercury: Mansell condemns death
NICK CLARK | October 21, 2011 12.55pm
TASMANIAN Aboriginal leader Michael Mansell has condemned the assassination of his ‘old friend’ Muammar Gaddafi.
“I can’t see a reason to rejoice at the loss of human life and even if Libyans wanted him removed that does not justify an assassination,” he said.
Mr Mansell said that the rule of law should prevail not the rule of the gun.
“Then if there was a legitimate movement for change in Libya then the United Nations should have prevented any bloodshed and he could have been taken to the International Court of Justice,” he said.
‘The gloating and rejoicing by western media of the western backed assassination of an Arab leader says more about the media than the man assassinated.
Mr Mansell’s infamous trips to Libya roused enormous opposition in Australia including criticism from then Prime Minister Bob Hawke.
He was in the front row when the Libyan leader spoke a number of times and Mr Mansell spoke about Aboriginal problems.
“There is no doubt he was charismatic,” he said.
“I think we saw him two or three times when we were there.
“I remember one time when there was a cultural festival in a little town and then all of a sudden there was some excitement in the crowd and people came from nowhere and Gaddafi turned up in the back of old ute.
“That wasn’t contrived-the response from the crowd was just adoration.
“Anyone who would say 20 years later that he was despised by his people, he could have been this year but he certainly wasn’t then.
“You could just see that people idolised him.”
“What I saw in 1987 was a people who were saying ‘this is our leader’ he was adored and he was making a difference.”
Mr Mansell openly supported Libyan funding of freedom fighters such as the IRA and openly stated he would have accepted Libyan money had it been offered.
“I have often been asked what I thought of Mr Gaddafi. I guess one has to compare him with other world leaders. Mr Gaddafi did not kill as many innocent women and children in Afghanistan and Iraq as Barack Obama has. Nor did Mr Gaddafi supply Israel with the phosphorous bombs or the planes to drop drop them from on Palestinian civilians in 2009 as Obama did. Nor did Mr Gaddafi threaten to invade North Korea and Iran as Mr Obama has,” he said.
“Instead of welcoming Barack Obama to Australia he should be arrested for crimes against humanity and war crimes, and put on trial in the Hague.”
