Qaddafi steps over the line

Whenever serious people meet to try to solve the serious problems of the Middle East, it is predictable that one man will belittle the effort, attempt to stop it, and hurt a lot of people in the meantime.

This time around, the tedious Libyan leader Col. Moammar Qaddafi has struck cruelly at Palestinians.

He has expelled several thousand of these unfortunate people from his country, for the crime of being Palestinian.

Col. Qaddafi says he wants to show the world the Palestinians have been refugees since the formation of Israel in 1948.

His aim is to complicate and reverse the progress of Israeli and Palestinian peacemakers.

In the process, the immediate fate of several thousand men, women and children hang in the balance.

In a world with millions of refugees caused by hateful wars, Col. Qaddafi gleefully has created a refugee city at his border for no reason.

By toying with the Palestinians who lived in Libya, the colonel says he is showing that the PLO-Israel accord is a hoax.

What he actually is showing, however, is his own ghastly humor.

The response to Col. Qaddafi treatment of Palestinians in his country has been unanimous and angry.

The United Nations, Arab governments and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) have been particularly forceful in their outrage.

Parties involved in the Israel-PLO peace process agree for once even with those who oppose it: Col. Qaddafi must reconsider.

The office of the UN high Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has moved to the Egypt-Libya border where the expelled Palestinians are gathered.

With resources already strained by the huge number of genuine refugees, the UNHCR has ensured that the victims of Col. Qaddafi's outrage have food, water and shelter.

Col. Qaddafi clearly hopes his cruel use of the Palestinians as human tools will succeed as a form of Luddite politics.

His goal is to tear apart the peace agreements already achieved, and to prevent others.

It is heartening to see the unanimous opposition to his brutality.

Even hard-line opponents of recent Israeli-PLO agreements cannot stomach the expulsions of innocent Palestinians from Libya.

It often seems pointless to urge Col. Qaddafi to rethink his various foolish schemes.

But this is a case where those with access to the inner leadership of Libya must argue their case for sanity.

Libya's strong man has clearly stepped over the line.

His treatment of humans as pawns in his wild games must cease immediately.

-- The Bangkok Post