The west plays Gaddafi’s game

Whether or not Libya’s Colonel Muammer Gaddafi considers himself a Leninist, there are plenty of capitalists eager – as Lenin predicted – to sell him the rope to hang them with. It is the government of Gordon Brown that has suffered most since Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish justice minister, authorised an early release for the ailing terrorist Abdelbaset al-Megrahi. A Libyan intelligence operative, Mr Megrahi was convicted eight years ago of involvement in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, which left 270 dead. It seems unlikely the decision would have been made without the intercession of business. In July, the Libyan British Business Council, chaired by Lord Trefgarne, warned Mr MacAskill that the prospect of Mr Megrahi’s dying in prison was of “grave concern”.

You would think Col Gaddafi would be under a cloud. But no. He is now celebrating the 40th anniversary of the coup that brought him to power and preparing to visit New York as a Libyan takes over the presidency of the United Nations General Assembly. The Swiss daily Le Temps recently described Mr Gaddafi as a “master of manipulation”. But western politicians and businessmen are not being outsmarted by Col Gaddafi. They are caving in to him.

Over the past fortnight, Switzerland has subjected itself to a humiliation at Col Gaddafi’s hands alongside which Britain’s pales. Fourteen months ago, the colonel’s son Hannibal was arrested in Geneva on suspicion of beating two of his servants in the Hotel Président Wilson in Geneva. He has been in similar trouble before. In 2005, he was arrested for brandishing a 9mm semi-automatic pistol at police in the Intercontinental in Paris. Libya has generally extricated him by claiming diplomatic immunity.