Libya is no People Power--it's a bloody civil war

What started with a handful of student militants and ordinary citizens protesting in the streets is now a full-blown civil war.


Four hundred people have died and about 2,000 injured as rebel forces fought government forces led by the son of Libyan president Moammar Khaddafy. The fighting is being staged town by town, inch by inch, as anti-Khaddafy forces fight for territory to assume power.


Libyan president Khaddafy vowed to "fight to the death", and accused those who oppose his rule as "rats" and as "lackeys of foreign powers out to get Libyan gas and land." He also threatened US forces with war, saying that Libyans will fight these forces to the death should they enter Libyan territory. 


While fighting continues in Libya, a series of protests again rocked Yemen and other Arab states. The Yemeni president is seeking a quiet solution to popular demands that he step down. 


Fears of the revolt spreading into Saudi Arabia are affecting world crude oil prices, as speculators speculate on prices reaching the crazy levels of US$ 120 per barrel. This early, pockets of protesters have been seen calling for the downfall of the Saudi monarchy. 


IN Egypt, thirteen people died after fresh fighting broke out between the former regime die-hard sympathizers and pro-government forces. The Egyptian government warned of a "counter-revolution" against pro-democracy forces who continue to camp out inspite of the installation of a new government. 


The winds of revolt is spreading like wildfire throughout the region due mainly to economic reasons. People are starving due to higher prices of goods and the lack of jobs for locals. While all of these are happening, oil speculators and legitimate investors are raking in millions of dollars worth of profits.


Will Saudis heed the regional call for jihad against monarchical and despotic regimes rule? Or will it remain traditional?


Scores of Muslims throughout the world are not entirely surprised with what is happening in the Arab world. Decades ago, the fugitive Al-Qaeda ideologue Osama bin Laden had called for Muslims throughout the Arab world to launch a revolution against their governments. 


Bin Laden prophesized that there will be a time when Arabs would wrest control of power against their hegemons and establish pure, Islamic states at its stead. In Islam, there is neither a concept of monarchy nor of dictatorship. Islamic states only follow the laws of the Qu'ran and the Tafseer and the Shari'a.