Could Libya be ruled again by a Qaddafi?

TEN YEARS ago, when Muammar Qaddafi met a grisly end after 42 years in power, no one thought that a member of his family might ever end up back in charge of Libya. During the Arab spring a wave of euphoria washed across the country after the dictator’s demise. His seven sons were captured, killed or fled into exile. Seif al-Islam, the second eldest, was caught by a militia, put in a prison cage, indicted by the International Criminal Court at The Hague, and sentenced to death by Libya’s new regime.The national mood may, however, be changing. Many Libyans look back on the Qaddafi era as a time of stability, however brutal the regime and however bizarre the dictator’s pronouncements. After a decade of civil strife it now seems possible that Seif (pictured), the most able of Qaddafi’s surviving sons, may be edging his way back into politics. He evidently believes he can negotiate his way around the indictments he still faces at home and abroad and may yet be allowed to compete in the presidential and general elections scheduled for the end of this year. Some think he could win.