It is too late for peace initiatives of the type South Africa’s Zuma is working for Libya

Writing on the wall is unmistakable for the rogue regimes in the Middle East. Their time is up. The unprecedented attack on the presidential palace in Yemen on Friday, which injured President Ali Abdullah Saleh, his deputy premier and speaker besides killing many members of the presidential guard, only goes to underscore this reality.

No one expected the Arab Spring to be a smooth affair or that the winds of change would be welcomed by the ruthless, totalitarian regimes that have perpetuated themselves in power for decades at gunpoint. However, the barbaric and murderous crackdown unleashed by Libya’s Muammar Qaddafi and his counterparts elsewhere against their own people has crossed all limits.

It has been months since this carnage began and thousands have been killed from Libya to Yemen and from Yemen to Syria. This Friday brought another day of rage and endless, indiscriminate killings for the people of Libya, Yemen and Syria. Unarmed, peaceful protesters continue to be killed like flies by the security forces whose job is to defend them.

What is their crime? Demanding the freedom and rights that are taken for granted elsewhere in the world? The audacity to choose their own destiny after decades of putting up with the corruption, tyranny and ineptitude of their tormentors?

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