Moammar Gaddafi killed---what now Libya?

Moammar Gaddafi, once the strongman who defied the West, lay half-naked in the pavement, dead due to bullet wounds in the body. It is still uncertain how the 59 year old "King of Kings" of the African nations met his death. Fighters say he was in a convoy which fled a hideout in Sirte. The convoy was fired upon by French warplanes, demolishing 50 of the vehicles and killing scores of Gaddafi's supporters.

Gaddafi survived the onslaught and with his bodyguards, they tried to hide in one of the culverts in the area. A report says that one of his bodyguards shot him in the body. Another says, he was discovered by fighters shortly after one of his guards called for help.

Fighters accounts say that Gaddafi hid in the culvert, and when all of his bodyguards were killed, he emerged with a golden gun and a Kalasnikov. Fighters spotted him and shot him in the legs and shoulder. Shortly after that, Gaddafi breathed his last.

Al Jazeera and several pictures however, showed a group of fighters approaching a fatally wounded Gaddafi. Gaddafi was hauled in a jeep and when the jeep crossed an area where fighters and pro-Gaddafi forces were engaged, the strongman was hit with a bullet in the head. He died instantaneously.

Footages also showed Gaddafi's half-naked body being dragged by jubilant fighters. Several of his personal belongings were stripped of him, taken as souvenirs. One of the younger fighters got his golden gun and kept it for his own.

Gaddafi who ruled Libya after launching a coup against the monarchy, met a violent death at the hands of a people whom he ruled and dominated for over forty years. Scenes of his battered body being dragged by fighters show the level of lawlessness that has pervaded since alleged pro-democracy forces rallied against his rule six months ago. When Gaddafi tried to contain the rebels, that sparked a brutal fight which now, hopefully, ended with the death of the Strongman.

The question is---where will Libya be, post-Gaddafi? Surely, this interim government would veer towards the West, since NATO and US forces provided critical armed support to the rebels in their fight against Gaddafi.

What happens now with Africa? Who will stand up against those who oppress these impoverished nations? Who will now criticize the West for its aggressive policy in the MIddle East?

Likewise, Libya is now a heavily militarized country. Thousands of high powered weapons were distributed among the populace. One problem Post-Gaddafi is the peace and order situation. The new government would find it extremely hard to purge Libya of these weapons.

Since this government came about from violence, with a highly militarized Libya, it would not surprise me if, months from now, this government would also meet its end. There will be an endless cycle of violence because the State itself perpetuated violence. The only question now is, what would happen to the oil industry? Who now controls Libyan oil? Who benefits from all these confusion and the state of lawlessness? Big business.