Sierra Leoneans speak out on Libyan crisis
The Libyan crisis is now the topic of discussion in almost every quarter in the West African sub-region, with mixed reactions being expressed.
In Sierra Leone, many people are following the Libyan civil war with keen interest, since in fact the name Col Mouammar Gaddafi means different things to different people there.
The ousted Libyan leader had supported the Sierra Leonean rebels of the late Corporal Foday Sankoh. After the country’s civil war and return to democracy, Gaddafi visited the country and bankrolled a number of projects in the country amounting to millions of US dollars.
But what do people in Sierra Leone make of the Libyan crisis?
Speaking with WADR, some citizens of this country expressed concern about the level of deaths and destruction seen in the Libyan conflict.
“Images coming out of Libya are not really good,” says one of them.
Others speak of double standard being practiced by Western countries in dealing with the Libyan situation and criticized Nato for sidelining the African Union.
Another Sierra Leonean claimed that the Nato countries who have been backing the rebel Libyan National Transitional Council have economic motives:
“Look at Syria…we all know what happened in Syria but Nato did not switch over to Syria to handle the situation and instead they went to Libya. So going to Libya means precisely that it was because of the oil money the European world wants to control,” the Sierra Leonean citizen pointed out.
WADR’s Freetown Correspondent Mohamed Konneh has been sampling the views of ordinary Sierra Leoneans.
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