Rebels killed own military chief

Rebel Oil and Finance Minister says own soldiers killed Younis,disliked for ties with Gaddafi.

DAVID D KIRKPATRICK

The leadership of the Libyan rebels acknowledged late Friday that a group of their own soldiers had killed their top military commander,contradicting statements made a day earlier as the rebels scrambled to avoid tribal revenge attacks that could divide their ranks.

The death of the commander,General Abdel-Fattah Younis,has shaken both the rebel leaders trying to oust Muammar Gaddafi and their Western supporters by revealing divisions and intrigue within the rebel forces. The shifting and elliptical accounts of Youniss death have raised new questions about the rebel leaders credibility.

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Even before a member of the rebels governing council,Ali Tarhouni,told reporters Friday night that Younis had died at the hands of rebel soldiers,many in the generals powerful tribe,the Obeidi,were accusing the council of playing some role in his death.

Youniss death also removed the rebels top military commander just as they were struggling to restart their stalled drive toward Tripoli before the expiration in late September of the United Nations resolution authorising NATOs actions against Gaddafi.

Younis,a former chief of security under Gaddafi,was responsible for the detention and torture of untold numbers of Libyan dissidents,and had been a controversial figure among rebels because of his ties to their nemesis in Tripoli. Shortly before his death,the rebels issued a subpoena for the general to return from the front lines for questioning by a panel of judges,reportedly about charges of treason.

But instead of relying on a legal process,a group of rebel soldiers sent to retrieve him killed him along with two guards,then dumped their bodies outside the city,Tarhouni told reporters. He said the officer commanding the soldiers had admitted that they executed Younis,but the troops remained at large.

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Everything is under control, Tarhouni said,according to The Associated Press. This is just a rough stage we are going through.

His comments contradicted a palpably fearful statement the night before by the rebels top leader,Mustapha Abdul Jalil,who suggested that Younis had been killed by an armed gang. Jalil said Younis was killed after leaving his questioning session,not before. And he said his body had not been found,though it appeared in a coffin Friday before midday prayers.