For Arab Spring, hope and reason for caution

CAIRO - Images of Moammar Gadhafi's bloodied body flashed on TV screens across the world may send shivers down the spines of Syria's Bashar al-Assad and Yemen's Ali Abdullah Saleh, two leaders clinging to power amid Arab Spring uprisings.

For the millions of Arabs yearning for freedom, democracy, and new leadership, the death of one of the region's most brutal dictators will likely inspire and invigorate the movement for change.

Gadhafi's death sent ripples across the Arab world and set the Internet's social networks abuzz with comments, mostly celebrating the demise of a leader whose bizarre behavior over the years defined the woes of an Arab world mostly ruled by autocratic or despotic leaders.

"There is an emotional connection between the revolutionaries in the region," Egyptian activist Mona Seif said on Twitter. "Hope is contagious. Our revolution is one. The fall of another tyrant is a victory for all of us."

Gadhafi - the first leader to be killed in the Arab Spring wave of popular uprisings - had vowed to fight to the end. In his world of nationalism and desert valor, it was a fate better than the perceived humiliation of exile or incarceration of Tunisia's Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak.

But the Arab world will pay close attention to what happens next in Libya - and to whether the region's Assads and Salehs will see in his fate an incentive to cling to power and crack down even harder on any sign of unrest.

Most Egyptians were ecstatic when Mubarak stepped down in February after 29 years in office. But optimism and jubilation soon gave way to differences between the youth groups behind the 18-day uprising that forced the Egyptian leader out and the military council that took the reins of power.

With the economy in tatters, crime significantly up, labor unrest spreading, and almost-daily protests, Egyptians are far from certain about the future of their nation, even though some believe the worst may be behind them.

Gadhafi's death instantly resonated across Arab countries touched by the Arab Spring.

"This will signal the death of the idea that Arab leaders are invincible," activist and blogger Hossam Hamalawi said. "Mubarak is in a cage, Ben Ali ran away, and now Gadhafi killed. ... All this will bring down the red line that we can't get these guys."

On hearing the news of Gadhafi's demise, thousands celebrated in demonstrations in Syria and Yemen, countries where months of huge street protests have yet to bring regime change.

Tens of thousands of Yemenis danced and sang in the streets of several cities in the Arabian Peninsula nation. Their celebration was met with violence when security forces loyal to the regime opened up with tear gas and live ammunition.

"Saleh must be feeling more isolated now after Gadhafi's death and feels the noose getting tighter around his neck," Yemeni analyst Ali al-Horeiby said of his nation's embattled leader. "His time is up."

Omar Idilbi of the Local Coordination Committees, the entity that helps organize the demonstrations and documents human-rights violations in Syria, said protesters in several Syrian cities chanted slogans congratulating the Libyans on Gadhafi's death but also stressing the movement's peaceful nature.

"There is more confidence now in the future of the Syrian revolution, confidence that popular will cannot be crushed," he said. "Many of the protesters tonight are saying that what happened to Gadhafi should be a lesson to Arab tyrants."

In the tiny Gulf nation of Bahrain, the largest opposition group, Al Wefaq, said Gadhafi's death was "a very important message for all those who rule their people with an iron fist."

Al Wefaq led demonstrations and sit-ins by Bahrain's Shiite majority demanding greater rights from the nation's Sunni minority rulers. At least 35 people have been killed since the revolt began in February.

"Congratulations to the Libyan brothers on the fall of the arrogant, unjust ruler who murdered and antagonized his people and sowed divisions among them," Al Wefaq said.