extraordinary situation in Libya

With protests now aflame in the capital itself, “It is beginning to look like just a matter of time before Col Gaddafi’s rule finally collapses…”

Defections now mount at the upper level as well:

“Libya’s envoy to the Arab League, Abdel Moneim al-Honi, announced he was ‘joining the revolution’ and its ambassador to India, Ali al-Essawi, told the BBC he was resigning in protest against his government’s violent crackdown on demonstrators. Mohamed Bayou, who until a month ago was chief spokesman for the Libyan government, said the leadership was wrong to threaten violence against its opponents. ‘I hope that [Saif Gaddafi] will… change his speech to acknowledge the existence of an internal popular opposition, to enter into dialogue with them regarding thorough changes in the Libyan system,’ Mr Bayou said in a statement obtained by the Reuters news agency that appeared to indicate disagreement within the ruling elite.”

I used to think of the Colonel as a bit of a freak who had done some very bad things. Events in Benghazi, however, show him to be a common mass murderer. He can’t depart quickly enough. [ADDENDUM: Yes, I know the Lockerbie PanAm bombing in 1988 already counts as mass murder, I’m just not well versed enough in the lines of proof linking him personally to it. Not that there’s probably too much doubt.]