'ANY OF YOU MIGHT BE NEXT'

Was Syria's Bashar al-Assad the latest target of a Western-engineered regime-change agenda against Global South governments? That's what many are thinking after the lightning seizure of power by al Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

His fall is seen as confirmation of a prediction made by former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Speaking at an Arab League summit in 2008, he warned his fellow Arab leaders that if they did not unite, they would suffer the same fate as former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, who was hanged in 2006 in the wake of the US-led Western invasion of his country.

Back then, Arab leaders chuckled at Gaddafi's warning. Sixteen years on, it's no longer a laughing matter: a number of those in that room, including Gaddafi himself, have since been deposed. Assad was also there. His laugh was most notable, although he probably doesn't see the funny side now.

Video Credit: Al Jazeera