End of an era in Libya in sight

The endgame in the Libyan conflict has at last arrived. Much of Libya's capital is now in insurgents' hands, with the rebel army entering from all directions.

The military impotence of forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gadhafi visible for a week - had been matched by the regime's growing political disarray. Senior Gadhafi cronies were defecting - most recently deputy interior minister Nasser al-Mabrouk Abdullah fled to Cairo with nine family members, followed a few days later by oil chief Omran Abukraa. Like Saddam Hussein in 2003, Gadhafi appears to have gone into hiding.

So what will become of post-Gadhafi Libya? Former US secretary of state Colin Powell famously admonished former president George W. Bush before the Iraq War: "If you break it, you own it." Bush, however, shrugged off Powell's warning, and it was not long before the world watched in horror as it became clear that there was no detailed plan to govern or rebuild post-Saddam Iraq. Instead, the country endured a hideous war of all against all that left uncounted thousands dead.

Are the NATO countries that undertook military intervention in Libya better prepared to restore a broken Libya? Fortunately, one building block that was not available to Bush - a legitimate government to assume authority -is available for Libya.

The National Transitional Council, established in February by a rebel coalition forged in Benghazi, is led by Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, who resigned from his position as Gadhafi's justice minister on Feb 26 in response to the regime's violent crackdown on peaceful protests.

Will it be able to exercise authority and ensure security for ordinary Libyans, thereby preventing a recurrence of the blood vendettas that shattered Iraq after Saddam's fall?

Late at night on Aug 5, I visited Abdel-Jalil in Al Bayda, about 200 kilometers from Benghazi. I arrived at the diminutive NTC chairman's home well after midnight, because it was Ramadan, when Muslims fast during the day.

Wearing traditional Libyan garb, he offered me a red cushioned chair while he sat on a simple wooden stool. His modest demeanor stood in stark contrast to Gadhafi, who always sat on a luxurious throne-like sofa when greeting guests.