Libyan rebel military leader killed

[KKNDmx]

The head of the Libyan rebel's armed forces and two of his aides were killed by gunmen Thursday, the head of the rebel leadership said.

The death of Abdel Fattah Younes was announced at a press conference in the de facto rebel capital, Benghazi, by the head of the rebels' National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdul Jalil. He told reporters that rebel security had arrested the head of the group behind the killing.

Libyan rebel military leader killed - Africa - Al Jazeera English

The rebels are not doing too well militarily speaking, and their top commander got whacked at Benghazi, this could be a drawn out war for both sides.

 

[Vassnti]

He said two of the commander's aides, both colonels, were also killed in the attack by gunmen and that rebels had arrested the head of the group behind the attack. He did not say what he thought motivated the killers.

Younis was Gadhafi's interior minister before defecting to the rebels early in the uprising, which began in February. His abandoning of the Libyan leader raised Western hopes that the growing opposition could succeed in forcing out the country's ruler of more than four decades.

Rebel forces, however, held mixed views of the man, with some praising him for defecting and others criticizing his long association with Gadhafi.

Hours before the commander's death was announced, rebel military spokesman Mohammed al-Rijali had said Younis was taken for interrogation from his operations room near the front line to the de facto rebel capital of Benghazi in eastern Libya.

Later, Abdul-Jalil presented a different scenario, saying Younis had been "summoned'' for questioning on "a military matter,'' but that he had not yet been questioned when he was killed.

He also called on all rebel forces to intensify their efforts to find the men's bodies, but did not explain how the deaths were discovered.

Further complicating matters, another security officer, Fadlallah Haroun, told The Associated Press before Abdul-Jalil's announcement that security had found three badly burned bodies.

Two of them were dead and one was unconscious, Fadlallah said, adding that one was known to be Younis, though they didn't know which one.

"We formed a fact-finding committee to go the scene

because we found three bodies that were burned so badly we couldn't tell from the faces who was who

,'' he said.

Or Younis shot some one put the corpse in his uniform and burnt it before getting the heck out because some one twigged he was Gaddafi's ears on the inside?

 

[Tractor]

What gangsters these rebels are.

 

[lover_of_Ahlulbayt]

May Allah give success to the Libyan revolution!

Oh Gaddafi lanateee Allah will curse you to hell!

LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTION!

 

[Nav]

May Allah give success to the Libyan revolution!

Oh Gaddafi lanateee Allah will curse you to hell!

LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTION!

Too Persnol ....one should not curse any body at a public forum lyk def.pk

 

[Last Hope]

I do not want to debate over it, but Gaddaffi is the good guy actually.. was.. cause of the killings, he isin't anymore.

 

[Devil Soul]

Libya rebel chief Younes' killing: Unanswered questions

Mystery surrounds the circumstances of the killing of Libya's rebel military commander, Gen Abdel Fattah Younes, a day after he and two aides were shot.

Rebel leader Mustafa Abdul-Jalil said they had been killed by gunmen after Gen Younes was recalled from the front for questioning by judges.

He said the ringleader of the attack had been held but he gave no details about his identity or the motive.

It is not disclosed where the attack happened; nor where the bodies are.

The general - a former interior minister who had served at the heart of Col Muammar Gaddafi's regime since the 1969 coup - joined the rebels at the beginning of the Libyan uprising in February.
The BBC's Ian Pannell in the rebel-held city of Misrata says his defection was seen as a coup for the opposition, but there had been rumours that he had kept contacts with the Gaddafi leadership.

Mr Jalil announced the general's death late on Thursday, and said the head of the group of men who killed him had been captured.

Mr Jalil, who heads the rebel National Transitional Council, did not say who the assailants were or where the attack took place.

Although the bodies of Gen Younes and his aides have not been found, Mr Jalil said there would be three days of mourning in their honour.

Gen Younes was due to appear before a panel of judges in the rebel capital, Benghazi.

The exact nature of the questions he was facing is also unclear. Mr Jalil said they regarded military operations.

Some unconfirmed reports said Gen Younes and two aides had been arrested earlier on Thursday near Libya's eastern front.

Shortly after the announcement of their death, gunmen entered the grounds of the hotel in the eastern city of Benghazi where Mr Jalil was speaking, reportedly firing into the air before being convinced to leave.
Ddivisions in Benghazi
Earlier on Thursday, rebels said they had seized the strategically important town of Ghazaya near the Tunisian border, after heavy fighting with Col Gaddafi's forces.

They reportedly took control of several other towns or villages in the area.

The rebels are struggling to break a military deadlock five months into the uprising against Col Gaddafi's rule.

Rebels control most of eastern Libya from their base in Benghazi and the western port city of Misrata, while Col Gaddafi retains much of the west, including the capital, Tripoli.

Late on Thursday AFP news agency reported explosions shaking the centre of Tripoli, as state TV reported that planes were flying over the Libyan capital.

Nato, acting under a UN mandate authorising military action for the protection of civilians, has carried out regular air strikes in the Tripoli area.

Our correspondent says his death will feed international suspicions that the rebel cannot be trusted.

South Africa's ambassador to the UN on Thursday warned that supporters of the rebels were in danger of violating UN sanctions and criticised calls by Western governments for Col Gaddafi to stand down.

The BBC's Barbara Plett at the UN says the growing trend to grant diplomatic recognition to the Libyan rebels is facing opposition on the Security Council.

About 30 countries have recognised the NTC.
Abdel Fattah Younes


Helped Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi take power in the 1969 coup that ousted King Idris
Close advisor to the Libyan leader for four decades, rising to the post of general and training Col Gaddafi's special forces
Appointed interior minister
Quit the government on 22 February 2011 and defected to the rebels - one of the earliest such moves by a senior official
Appointed as the opposition's military chief in April, but faced mistrust due to his past ties to Col Gaddafi

Analysis

James Reynolds
BBC News, Tripoli
There are a lot of questions about exactly what happened on Thursday and what the sequence of events was. We're told that Gen Younes had been due to appear before a panel of rebel judges to answer a number of questions on a military matter. We're not entirely sure what that was.

In a conflict like this where there are not many facts and one side of the country is fighting another, we tend to get an awful lot of rumours and suggestions.

For what it's worth, some of the ones we're hearing is that there was a worry among the rebels that the military campaign was not going very well. They wanted to question the general.

Some of the speculation we're hearing in Tripoli, coming from Col Gaddafi's side, is that the general was simply not trusted by the rebels.

BBC News - Libya rebel chief Younes' killing: Unanswered questions

 

[nomi007]

every person who is with USA is always right
anti USA persons always are terrorists

 

[somebozo]

Arab news
Libyan rebels' military commander killed by own comrades

By REUTERS

Published: Jul 28, 2011 23:27 Updated: Jul 28, 2011 23:27

(Updated) BENGHAZI/NALUT: Libya’s rebels said their military commander was shot dead in an incident that remained shrouded in mystery, pointing either to divisions within the movement trying to oust Muammar Qaddafi or to an assassination by Qaddafi loyalists.

The killing of Abdel-Fatah Younes, who for years was in Qaddafi’s inner circle before defecting to become the military chief in the rebel Transitional National Council (TNC), set back a movement that was at last beginning to acquire cohesion as international pressure on the Qaddafi regime intensifies.

“It seems this was an assassination operation organized by Qaddafi’s men. Qaddafi’s security apparatus has fulfilled their aim and objective of getting rid of Younes,” London-based Libyan journalist and activist Shamis Ashour told Reuters.

“By doing that they think they will create divisions among the rebels. There certainly was treason, a sleeping cell among the rebels. Younes was on the front line and was lured to come back to Benghazi and was killed before he reached Benghazi. This is a big setback and a big loss to the rebels.”

The killing, announced late on Thursday, coincided with the start of a rebel offensive in the west and further international recognition for their cause, which they hope to translate into access to billions of dollars in frozen funds.

The rebels said Younes was shot dead by assailants after being summoned back from the battlefield.

Witnesses said the killing was greeted with jubilation by Qaddafi’s supporters in the Libyan capital Tripoli.

After a day of rumours, rebel political leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil said Younes and two bodyguards had been killed before he could make a requested appearance before a rebel judicial committee investigating military issues.

It was not clear where the attack took place. Compounding the confusion, Jalil said the bodies had yet to be found.

Younes was not trusted by all of the rebel leadership due to his previous role in cracking down on anti-Qaddafi dissidents.

But his death is likely to be a severe blow to a movement that has won the backing of some 30 nations but is laboring to make progress on the battlefield.

“A lot of the members of the TNC were Qaddafi loyalists for a very long time. They were in his inner circle and joined the TNC at a later stage,” said Geoff Porter from North Africa Risk Consulting.

The rebels claimed to have seized several towns in the Western Mountains on Thursday but have yet to make a serious breakthrough. With prospects of a swift negotiated settlement fading, both sides seem prepared for the five-month civil war to grind on into the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in August.

A rebel official said no deal was worth talking about unless it meant Qaddafi and his powerful sons left Libya, while the veteran leader vowed to fight on “until victory, until martyrdom.”

Soon after Jalil’s announcement, gunmen entered the grounds of the hotel in the rebels’ main city of Benghazi where he was speaking and fired shots in the air, a Reuters reporter said. No one was hurt.

At least four explosions rocked the center of Tripoli on Thursday evening as airplanes were heard overhead. The city has come under frequent NATO bombing since Western nations intervened on the side of the rebels in March under a UN mandate to prevent Qaddafi’s forces from killing civilians.

The killing of Younes, who was involved in the 1969 coup that brought Qaddafi to power and then became his interior minister, came after the rebels attacked Ghezaia, a town near the Tunisian border held by Qaddafi throughout the war.

By late Thursday, the rebels said they had taken control of the town, from which Qaddafi forces had controlled an area of the plains below the mountains.

“Qaddafi’s forces left the areas when the attack started,” said rebel fighter Ali Shalback. “They fled toward the Tunisian border and other areas.”

Reuters could not go to Ghezaia to confirm the report, as rebels said the area around the town could be mined. But looking through binoculars from a rebel-held ridge near Nalut, reporters could see no sign of Qaddafi’s forces in Ghezaia.

Juma Ibrahim, a rebel commander in the Western Mountains, told Reuters by phone from the town of Zintan that Takut and Um al Far had also been seized in the day’s offensive.

Rebels have taken swathes of Libya since rising up to end Qaddafi’s 41-year rule in the oil-producing North African state.

They hold northeast Libya including their stronghold Benghazi; the western city of Misrata; and much of the Western Mountains, their closest territory to the capital.

Yet they remain poorly armed and often disorganized.

STALEMATE

The fighting has settled into a stalemate in a conflict that Qaddafi has weathered for five months, despite rebel gains, mainly in the east, and hundreds of NATO air raids on his forces and military infrastructure.

A recent flurry of diplomatic activity has yielded little, with the rebels insisting Qaddafi step down as a first step and his government saying his role is non-negotiable.

Western suggestions that Qaddafi might be able to stay in Libya after ceding power appeared to fall on deaf ears.

UN envoy Abdel Elah Al-Khatib visited both sides this week with plans for a cease-fire and a power-sharing government that excludes Qaddafi, but won no visible result.

The rebels said any deal that did not envisage Qaddafi and his sons leaving the country was “not worth talking about” while the Libyan leader appeared defiant on Wednesday, urging rebels to lay down their arms or suffer an ugly death.

The rebels received a further boost on Thursday when Portugal followed Britain in recognizing them.

London has also unblocked 91 million pounds ($149 million) in frozen assets, joining the United States and about 30 other nations who have now recognized the opposition, potentially freeing up billions of dollars in frozen funds.

Austria said it wanted to unfreeze up to 1.2 billion euros ($1.7 billion) of Libyan money and transfer it to the rebels, but needed legal papers to show that a financial body set up by the NTC amounted to a valid central bank “identical to the one in Tripoli” to which the money had belonged.

© 2010 Arab News