World leaders expressed relief at the death of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi but experts say the West should tread carefully into what is still a very volatile transitionary period for the country.
Britain and France, the two European countries that played a leading role in the military campaign against Gadhafi, said they hoped the former dictator's death would spur a new period of democracy for Libya.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Gadhafi's death is a "milestone" for Libya and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was "relieved and very happy."
"Finally the way is free for a political rebirth for peace," she said.
But there is some controversy on how Gadhafi died as video showed him being taken alive by the ex-rebels.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said he wished Gadhafi could have been taken alive so he could have gone to trial.
Britain's foreign affairs minister said he was concerned about how the death occurred, but didn't seem ready to make it an issue.
"We do not approve of extra-judicial killings," William Hague told Sky News television, "but we are not going to mourn him."
But on the whole, Gadhafi's death will avoid the spectacle of a trial and may spur the transition to a new government.
Marco Vicenzino, director of the global strategy project in London, said the most difficult moment begins now for the reshaping of the oil-rich country following the death of Gadhafi.
Gadhafi was killed near his hometown of Sirte Thursday ending 42 years of an iron-clad rule.
"If Westerners try to intervene directly in the political process there will be a strong reaction on the ground in Libya. The West has to tread very carefully," he said. "They can try to help, shape, influence and assist in the process of political evolution, but the minute they are seen to be directly intervening within the process it will be in the worst interests of the West."
Even before Gadhafi's death, the U.S. had begun assisting Libya's National Transitional Council, providing it with financial assistance. And in July, the U.S., along with allies in Europe and the Middle East, recognized the NTC as Libya's official government.
But Vincenzino warned that it will take a long time to rebuild the Libyan people's trust and idea of democracy.
"The process of democratization and of opening up will take a very long time. It's not about elections only. It's about building institutions. It's about building a new society. It's about building a political culture and people feeling part of a society and feeling represented," he said.
However, Vincenzino said the huge reserves of untapped oil in Libya, which began flowing again after months of shutdown, will help finance the reconstruction of the country's economy.
While many took to the street of Libya Thursday to celebrate the death of Gadhafi and the end of his brutal regime, Vincenzino said the painful memories of the 42-year rule will linger for decades.
"Those are scars that will remain for the rest of their lives. Forty-two years will not disappear overnight. Probably not even within a generation. It is going to take a very, very long time."
Oil key to democracy?
David Pollack, a Middle East Expert with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said a transition to democracy will be "challenging."
"They are really starting from about zero," he said of Libya's new government. "But Libya does have two things going for it; One, is a small population and (two), also a vast potential in the way of resources in oil."
Libya's population is only about six million and along with its oil wealth, Pollack says that's an "advantage over some of the other countries in the region."
It is expected that Libya's oil industry, which had been producing about 1.6 million barrels of oil a day before the unrest started, will be able to get back to full production rather quickly. About 95 per cent of the nation's wealth comes from oil exports.
The country's oil output is currently about 400,000 barrels a day, mostly for domestic consumption. Prior to the conflict, more than half of Libya's oil was exported to France, Germany and Italy, John Stephenson, an oil analyst with First Asset Funds, said.
"It's a very high quality of crude oil, representing about two per cent of world supply," he told 麻豆影视 Channel.
Stephenson said a return to full oil production in Libya should eventually lower gasoline prices worldwide.
With files from CTVNews.ca's Scott Anderson
