Internal volatility in strife-torn Libya has become a matter of latest international concern at a time when the escalating violence and tension in the Middle East are menacingly threatening the global peace and security.
As the situation in the Gaza Strip remains the eye of the current international concern and anxiety, turmoil in several other countries in the area unmistakably points to a deteriorating world scenario that may have serious political and economic repercussions even beyond the Middle-East region.
The international political situation has taken a nosedive in recent days as a sequel of the big-power acrimony centring the Ukraine crisis that has pitted the powerful Russia against the United States-led western nations. The problems are reminiscent of the cold-war-era rivalry between the West and the East even though the erstwhile communist giant, the Soviet Union, no longer exists.
The ouster of a pro-Kremlin government in Ukraine, a former Soviet Republic, through mass agitation and the installation of a western-backed authority in Kiev brought the two sides closer to confrontation. The subsequent annexation of Crimea, an autonomous region of Ukraine, and the separatist activities by pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine further compounded the situation.
But as if these were not enough as the shooting down of a Malaysian passenger plane, killing all aboard, added fuel to the flame. And the world is now grappling with the serious gravity of the worsening condition.
In the Middle East, an unrelenting Syrian civil war is an intractable crisis that has also brought the global powers along the divergent lines of the contending parties, with no sign of a thaw in the more-than-three-year-long war. The Damascus government and the rebels seeking to oust the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad are engaged in a seesaw war of attrition that has drawn Washington and friends to the side of the rebels while Moscow and its allies have thrown their entire weight behind the throne of power.
The Israel-Hamas conflict in Palestine is nothing new -- the two sides have fought three wars in last five years. And every time the Tel Aviv authorities unleashed horror on the civilian population of Palestine. This time around, their target has been particularly the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip where, so far, more than 1,600 people have been killed. Tragically, most of the victims are innocent civilians, including women and children.
Calls by the international community for restraint are falling on deaf ears. The painstakingly-brokered truce between the warring sides has collapsed amidst mutual accusations. While efforts were continuing till the writing of this column for the restoration of the truce, the Israeli brutality in the form of air strikes and ground offensive resumed with full intensity, causing further damage and deaths in Palestine.
True, the United Nations Security Council has urged both sides for cessation of the war, but the fact remains that the international community has sadly remained spectators by and large to the genocide of the Palestinian people.
However, demand for charges of war crimes against Tel Aviv is growing as president Mahmoud Abbas, whose "Fatah" organisation controls the West Bank, has sought broad support for charging Israel with crimes against humanity.
It may be mentioned that "Hamas" and "Fatah", two rival Palestinian groups with the latter being relatively moderate to Israel, have forged greater unity in recent days and this has become a headache for the Tel Aviv government.
The chief of the UN human rights commission, Navi Pillai, has also said that Israeli actions are tantamount to war crimes although she added in the same breath that the firing of rockets by Hamas into Israel also violates human rights.
While the Middle East is in flame again due to the Hamas-Israel war, disturbing news emanating from Libya of internal strife stemming from fighting among different groups over there has put another nation in the region on international list of uncertain political course.
People - many of them foreigners - are leaving Libya, mainly for Tunisia, through the southern border. The latest crisis there has created a big humanitarian problem.
The country was slowly recovering from the time of ouster of the Mohammer Gaddafi regime and establishing a democratic pattern of government. But fresh strife has come as a big jolt to the nation.
The only ray of hope in the Middle-Eastern region is the positive posture between Iran and the United States and its allies on a resolution of the complex nuclear programme of Tehran. Although no settlement has been reached on the vexed problem, the two sides have decided to carry on the parleys as both reported progress in the negotiations.
The global scenario owing to major international flashpoints has worsened sharply in the recent months, and it is now a bounden duty for the world community to initiate vigorously and sincerely measures that would save the alarming situation. People in Palestine and several regional countries have celebrated the "Eid" festival under untold repression and difficult condition when Israel showed no mercy in its assault even on that occasion. Shouldn't the world conscience rise effectively against this brutality?
zaglulchowdhury@
yahoo.com
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