KIGALI - The visiting United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Jonnie Carson, has declared that Gaddafi’s death opens a new era for change, democracy as well as liberty to the Libyan people, adding that it marked a new beginning for those who suffered during his regime.

Speaking to reporters in Kigali, yesterday, Mr Carson said that "this is the victory for the people of Libya. They are the victors who fought for their freedom.

But all of us who support democracy around the world can be proud of the fact that we have seen the new opening of freedom and independent democracy where it has been absent  since the 1960s.”

Carson, who on Friday visited Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre at Gisozi, praised the fighters of Libya’s National Transition Council for bringing to an end the era of Muammar Gaddafi, describing it as a great moment for democracy in Africa.

Col Gaddafi, who came to power in a coup in 1969, was killed after he was captured by the Libyan fighters as they overrun his last bastion of resistance in his hometown of Sirte.

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