Italy wants to let Gaddafi go into a quiet exile in Africa. At least it's not Saudi Arabia...
Is exile the easy way to end Colonel Gaddafi's 40-year grip on Libya - and the current civil war? Italy is currently pushing the idea of a ceasefire combined with retirement for Gaddafi - and even the UK, which officially wants to see him tried in the International Criminal Court, appears to be happy to let him go if it brings a swift halt to hostilities in Libya.
Foreign Secretary William Hague told the BBC: "We want him to leave power and that's what we've consistently said to the Libyan regime. We are not in control, of course, of where he might go."
Italy's plan would see Gaddafi sent to an African country that does not recognise the ICC (Arab leaders, by and large, loathe the 'Brotherly Leader'). Unfortunately, the vast majority of African states are either ICC members or have signed the treaty (but failed to ratify it).
Only the likes of Rwanda, Mauritania, Benin, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Swaziland have completely snubbed the ICC.
Should Gaddafi accept his fate and choose one of these countries, he may wish to reflect that even those dictators who escape justice rarely enjoy a happy ending. Here, The First Post outlines the fate of a few fellow despots.
Idi Amin The military dictator of Uganda is thought to be responsible for the deaths of up to 500,000 people during his eight-year reign. When he was deposed in 1979 (despite military backing from Colonel Gaddafi), he escaped first to Libya before settling in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah, where the royal family subsidised his life in return for his silence. Their motivation was supposedly because they feared his clownish reputation was damaging Islam. The Guardian described the years until his death in 2003 as a "dull round of sports events, gym sessions and massage parlours. He had a Range Rover, a Chevrolet Caprice and a powder-blue Cadillac for his aimless shopping trips, and visits to the airport to clear through customs the parcels of cassava and other food items sent by relatives in Uganda".
Hissene Habre The dictator of Chad, who came to power in a CIA-backed coup, ruled from 1982 until 1990 and became known as 'Africa's Pinochet'. His rule was marked by the usual human rights abuses, including ethnic cleansing of rival tribes and around 40,000 people were killed. After surviving a war against Gaddafi's Libya, Habre was eventually deposed by rebels and fled to exile in Senegal. He is currently living under virtual house arrest in Dakar and faces a trial for crimes against humanity.
The Shah of Persia Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi fled Iran in 1979 following the Islamic revolution led by Ayatollah Khomeini. He travelled to Morocco, the Bahamas and Mexico before dying in Egypt of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 1980.
Kwame Nkrumah The Ghanaian president from 1960 until 1966 was referred to as 'Messiah' by the government-owned press. He was deposed in a coup while on a state visit to North Korea and China and went into exile in Guinea. Here he was made to feel at home by President Toure, who made him honorary co-president. However, he was convinced that foreign agents were out to poison him and died a paranoid man of skin cancer six years into his exile.
'Baby Doc' Duvalier Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier was overthrown in 1986 after a 15-year reign of terror in which thousands were killed. Baby Doc's crimes included drugs trafficking and selling the body parts of dead Haitians. Baby Doc went into exile in France, where he lived a luxurious lifestyle before losing most of his money in a 1993 divorce. Earlier this year he returned to Haiti and is awaiting trial for corruption.
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali The most recent addition to the exiled dictators' club 'won' a number of elections during his 23-year rule of Tunisia. Ben Ali was the first Arab leader to be deposed in this year's Arab Spring and flew to France, where he no doubt hoped to enjoy a luxurious and cultured exile. Sadly, the authorities refused Ben Ali permission to land and he was forced to divert to Saudi Arabia, where he will instead have to put up with those "aimless" shopping trips with his wife Leila Trabelsi. Both are currently wanted by Interpol on corruption charges. 
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Asadullah Syed
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