Karzai: West should ‘absolutely’ stay out of Libya

On the day Colonel Gaddafi warned of a “bloody war” if there was outside interference in Libya, Hamid Karzai has told Channel 4 News the international community should “absolutely” stay out of the troubled country.

The Afghan President said: “I believe military intervention will cause more suffering for the international community and the people of Libya.

“A military intervention will raise the nationalistic fervour of the population there, with no clear end in sight, and as a consequence of that I would not advise it.”

The uprising in Libya has followed mass demonstrations in Tunisia and Egypt, both of which ended in a change of political leadership.

But Libya has proved a bloodier battle for the revolutionaries desperate to see Gaddafi’s demise.

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President Karzai said he viewed the uprisings in the Middle East with “surprise”.

“The events were not expected, the events were rapid and the events led to changes that we hope now will bring the aspirations of the people of the Middle East to where they want.”

Asked if he thought the Middle East uprisings could spread to Afghanistan or Pakistan, President Karzai told Channel 4 News that Afghanistan was already a democracy.

“We have elections, though contested, though labelled various ways, we have a very vibrant free press, we have a lot of light thrown on the functions of the Government.

“It’s a country where there is immense freedom of speech and political participation, so in Afghanistan the Government can change when the people want it to through an election and constitutional process.

“In other parts where such arrangements aren’t there, of course the likelihood is there (of uprisings).

Read more: Will Cameron learn the Afghanistan intervention lesson?

“Whatever happens, from the Afghan experience, from the 30 years of war and suffering we had and the consequences of intervention and our own internal dynamics, I hope that’s not repeated in any other country because that will only bring misery and destruction.”