“We must address the causes of terrorism,” says Louis Michel, a Belgian member of parliament in the European Union. He believes that the death of Osama bin Laden offers an opportunity to reconcile the Arab world with the West. For Louis Michel, the death of bin Laden does not put an end to terrorism. It may, however, allow the American public to make peace with the Arab world, and it could advance the Israeli-Palestinian issue.
Question: What is your reaction to the death of Osama bin Laden, considering you were the minister for foreign affairs at the time of the attacks on 9/11?
Louis Michel: This is a great political victory for Obama, who has always made a distinction between al-Qaida and the Muslim Arab world. With the wave of liberalism that has swept North Africa, we can expect an improvement in the relationship between the Arab world and the West.
Q. So, according to you, the elimination of bin Laden is a good message to send to these people?
L.M. I didn’t say that. I’m saying that it is necessary that the international community now attacks the causes of tension between Muslims and what we call the “Free World.”
Q. Wouldn’t it have been better to have arrested bin Laden and put him on trial?
L.M. The Americans are at war, and in a war we do not always have the means of the law.
Q. At the risk of making bin Laden a martyr?
L.M. The death of bin Laden does not bring an end to terrorism. We must address its causes. It is time that the international community, and the United States in particular, sends a strong message to the people who have been traumatized by years of conflict in the Middle East.
Q. Is the world now safer, or has the threat of danger not decreased?
L.M. The danger remains because bin Laden had strength. He was a terrifyingly destructive power, and it is not clear if that destructive power has died with him. This is why I insist that the international community must send a clear message to Muslims.
Q. How? By doing what exactly?
L.M. Obama should get involved in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, though I’m not saying that he won’t, but look at what’s happening. Fatah and the Palestinian authorities are finding a middle ground, there’s the Arab revolution in North Africa and now bin Laden is dead. Things are moving along and there is an appetite for democracy and for secularism. The American public may be more inclined to better relations with the Arab world. The United States, and Europe for that matter, needs to address the situation without taboos and without preconditions.
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