Threat of Trial Keeps Gadhafi Fighting
When Nigeria delivered exiled Liberian leader Charles Taylor to an international court in 2006, Libya’s Col. Moammar Gadhafi, whose regime had armed and funded Mr. Taylor, called it an “immoral act” and warned that “every head of state could meet a similar fate.”
Now that the International Criminal Court has opened an investigation into Col. Gadhafi himself, such fears may well be a reason why the Libyan leader has chosen to battle his own people instead of seeking exile like Mr. Taylor or Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, the former Tunisian president now residing in Saudi Arabia.
Col. Gadhafi’s behavior illustrates a thorny moral dilemma: An international drive to ensure ousted dictators answer for their crimes may, perversely, end up prolonging their rule—and extract a heavy toll in human lives.