{"id":18722,"date":"2018-10-16T18:24:30","date_gmt":"2018-10-16T18:24:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=18722"},"modified":"2018-10-16T18:24:30","modified_gmt":"2018-10-16T18:24:30","slug":"probe-into-rebel-commanders-killing-threatens-libyas-stability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=18722","title":{"rendered":"Probe into rebel commander’s killing threatens Libya’s stability"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Eastern Libyan authorities have resumed an investigation into the unexplained killing of a rebel commander in the 2011 uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi<\/a>, a case that could re-open old wounds.<\/p>\n

The killing<\/a> of Abdel Fattah Younes by suspected fellow fighters caused deep rifts within the rebel camp of the kind that have marked the turmoil and violence gripping Libya<\/a> ever since.<\/p>\n

The investigation risks stirring new tensions between eastern Libya, controlled by the forces of General Khalifa Haftar<\/a>, and a UN-backed administration in the capital Tripoli.<\/p>\n

Haftar ordered the eastern military prosecutor to “immediately and urgently reopen the investigation” of the killing of Younes and two others, according to a decree posted on Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n

A previous investigation launched in 2011 had named as prime suspect Ali Essawi, who was deputy prime minister during the uprising at a rebel transitional authority which took over power from Gaddafi.<\/span><\/p>\n

A court later dropped the case against Essawi and other suspects. But he resurfaced when Tripoli-based Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj appointed<\/a> him as economy minister this month.<\/p>\n

Serraj met Essawi on Tuesday to discuss economic reforms, the government said, publishing pictures of both men.<\/span><\/p>\n

His appointment has drawn an angry reaction in the east. Younes’s Obeidat tribe and a second eastern-based tribe warned in comments published in local media that the move was a provocation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both tribes are among the most powerful in the east and allied to Haftar, who has conquered most of eastern Libya.<\/span><\/p>\n

The United Nations<\/a> has been trying to mediate between east and west to prepare the North African country for elections.<\/p>\n

France<\/a> had been pushing for the vote in December but recent fighting between rival groups in Tripoli and a lack of a constitutional basis has dimmed the prospect.<\/p>\n

Younes was for years part of Gaddafi’s inner circle. He defected at the start of the uprising in February 2011 and became the military chief of the rebellion.<\/span><\/p>\n

His death exposed tensions between Islamists – whom Gaddafi suppressed during his 42-year rule – and more secular and army figures.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Younes’s assassination revealed a darker undertow to Libya\u2019s uprising,” said Mary Fitzgerald, a Libya researcher. <\/span><\/p>\n

“Many Libyans say it almost destroyed their revolution. Of the many unresolved killings in Libya since 2011, the case of Younes casts a particularly long shadow because of who he was and what he represented.”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\n SOURCE:
\n Reuters news agency<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eastern Libyan authorities have resumed an investigation into the unexplained killing of a rebel commander in the 2011 uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi, a case that could re-open old wounds. The killing of Abdel Fattah Younes by suspected fellow fighters caused deep rifts within the rebel camp of the kind that have marked the turmoil…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":18723,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle_east_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}