Rebel chief’s death raises questions

raising questions about divisions and lawlessness within rebel ranks.
The assassination of Abdel Fattah Younes, apparently by his own side, has hurt the opposition just as it was winning broader international recognition and launching an offensive against Gaddafi’s forces in the Western Mountains.
After 24 hours of confusion, rebel minister Ali Tarhouni said Younes had been killed by fighters who were sent to fetch him from the front and his bullet-riddled and partially burnt body was found at a ranch near the rebel capital of Benghazi.
Tarhouni said late last Friday a militiaman had been arrested and confessed that his subordinates had carried out the killing.
Younes had been part of Gaddafi’s inner circle since the 1969 coup that brought the Libyan colonel to power and was interior minister before defecting to the rebels in February.
Many rebels had been uncomfortable working under a man who had been so close to Gaddafi for 41 years, and rebel sources said on Thursday Younes had been recalled over suspicions he or his family were secretly in contact with the Libyan leader.
Rebels were divided over who had killed Younes, some suspecting his execution was ordered by rebel leaders for treason, many believing he was killed by Gaddafi supporters who had infiltrated rebel ranks, and still others suggesting a rebel splinter group had acted alone.
Gaddafi’s government pointed the finger at Fawzi Bu Kitf, head of the Union of Revolutionary Forces, a federation of armed rebel groups operating in the east of the country.
In an apparent effort to distance himself from the killing, Bu Kitf on Saturday named the key suspect as Mustafa al-Rubh, the field commander who had been dispatched to arrest Younes.
“He is a member of the Union as an individual,” Bu Kitf told reporters.
“Whatever was done was done through his own idea.”
Whatever the truth, the killing deepens concerns among the rebels’ Western backers, keen to see them prevail in a five-month-old civil war but frustrated by their lack of unity and nervous about the influence of Islamists.
The United States, which like some 30 other nations has formally recognised the opposition, called for solidarity.
“What’s important is that they work both diligently and transparently to ensure the unity of the Libyan opposition,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in Washington.
According to an AFP report, Libya’s deputy foreign minister Khaled Kaaim said early yesterday that the government of Muammar Gaddafi was in contact with members of the rebel National Transitional Council.
“There are contacts with Mahmud Jibril (number two in the NTC), and (Ali) Essawy (in charge of external relations), (religious leader Ali) Sallabi and others,” Kaaim told a news conference in the capital.
“There are others who have been trying for weeks to reach the prime minister or other ministers.”
The deputy minister denied rumours about recent contacts between the regime and rebel General Abdel Fatah Yunis, who was assassinated Thursday in mysterious circumstances.
“He was in contact with the government during his visit in Italy two months ago. Since then we had no contact with him despite (the fact that) we still have other contact with other members of NTC but not with Abdel Fatah,” Kaaim said.
The rebels have frequently denied having any direct negotiations with the Gaddafi regime.
Meawhile, the German foreign ministry is to expel a leading Libyan diplomat, the Munich-based weekly news magazine Focus reported yesterday.
A German foreign ministry spokeswoman confirmed that the Libyan diplomat was declared persona non grata. According to Focus, the Libyan diplomat was named the charge d’affaires of the Berlin-based Libyan embassy on July 22.
Although Germany has formally recognised Libya’s National Transitional Council, it has yet to expel the remaining diplomats in the country representing the regime of Muammar Gaddafi. – Reuters-AFP-IRNA.