AFTER 42 years of dictatorship, Libya is finally liberated. But, amid the celebrations, the awkward truth is that the country’s new beginning has got off to a disturbing start.

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond demonstrated considerable mastery of understatement when he said the status of the new National Transitional Council (NTC) had been “a little bit stained” by the way Colonel Gaddafi died.

Even allowing for the fog of war, the statements from the NTC – that the former dictator had died in a hail of bullets during a gun battle with his own supporters – were disingenuous at best, downright lies at worst.

This does not bode well for those Western powers which helped the NTC win Libya’s brutal civil war.

Western companies are queuing up to do business with Libya, but how can they if the NTC’s promises are meaningless?

Gaddafi’s death will do nothing to heal the rift between his supporters and the rest of the country. Libya is deeply tribal – bringing its people together may be a harder task than ousting Gaddafi from power.

With the tyrant gone a dangerous power vacuum has opened up. Libya is awash with guns, bombs and missiles.

It is a vast international arms bazaar and, right now, it is offering the mother of all sales.

Even in death, Colonel Gaddafi might have the last laugh if Libyan surface-to-air missiles sold on the black market end up being used against our troops in Afghanistan.