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Africa North

1 Killed in Failed Murder Bid against Islamist Libyan Leader

2013-01-08

[An Nahar] Libyan Islamist leader Ahmed Abu Khattala said on Monday that a man was killed and another injured when planting a boom-mobile in a bid to assassinate him. "One person was killed and another was maimed as they were planting a bomb in my brother's car with the aim of assassinating me," he said of the Sunday night incident. A security official in Libya's second city Benghazi confirmed saying that "two people were involved in an liquidation attempt against Ahmed Abu Khattala. One was killed and the other maimed." He added that the men were trying to set a bomb in a car but the device went kaboom! in the process, instantly killing one of the assailants. The blast destroyed two vehicles, a white pick up truck in which the perpetrators reportedly arrived and a black jeep, an Agence La Belle France Presse photographer said. Abu Khattala is one of the accused in the case of General Abdel Fatah Younes, who was killed in July 2011 along with two companions in murky circumstances. Their bodies were found in the outskirts of Benghazi. U.S. media reports have also implicated him in the deadly September 11, 2012 assault on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. But, in an October interview with AFP, the Islamist leader denied any role in the attack that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

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Africa North

Former Libya NTC leader accused of power abuse

2012-12-13

[Magharebia] Libyan military prosecutors on Tuesday (December 11th) accused former Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil of abuse of power, AFP reported. "Mustafa Abdel Jalil was accused of abuse of power and undermining national unity" by military prosecutors who questioned him over the 2011 liquidation of Abdel Fatah Younes, prosecution official Majdi al-Baraasi told AFP. Prosecutors allowed Abdel Jalil to "go free on bail but a travel ban was issued against him until he appears before a military court in Benghazi on February 20th", added Baraasi, who took part in the interrogation. General Younes, the highest-ranking military figure to join the uprising last year, was killed in July 2011 in murky circumstances after being recalled from the front line for questioning.

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Africa North

Military Court Refers Abdel Jalil to Investigation over General Murder

2012-11-08

[An Nahar] A Libyan military court on Wednesday ordered prosecutors to interrogate former transitional leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil over the murder of a general who had commanded rebel forces last year. The court in the eastern city of Benghazi ordered that the ex-chairman of the National Transitional Council, a political body representing rebels in the 2011 conflict, be questioned over the killing of General Abdel Fatah Younes. Younes, the highest-ranking military personality to join the 2011 uprising against Muammar Qadaffy ...whose instability was an inspiration to dictators everywhere, but whose end couldn't possibly happen to them... 's regime, was killed in July 2011 in murky circumstances after being recalled from the front line for questioning. Wednesday's hearing was adjourned until February 20, 2013 because the prosecutor general has yet to question some of those suspected of involvement in his death, the court noted. After the hearing, members of the Al-Obeidi tribe to which the general belonged warned they would take justice into their own hands if Libya's new authorities continue to "neglect" the case. The rustics believe the NTC played a role in the general's liquidation. Abdel Jalil announced Younes' death on July 29, 2011, saying that he had been shot and killed by an gang as he was brought in to be questioned by a panel of judges over the military situation. His burned and bullet-ridden body was found on the outskirts of Benghazi. The liquidation fueled widespread rumors and unconfirmed reports on the identities and motives of the perpetrators. Another council member, Ali Tarhuni, blamed members of a shadowy Islamist brigade for the killing. Thirteen people have been formally accused of involvement in the affair, including Judge Jumaa al-Jazwi who signed the order to arrest Younes. Jazwi was himself assassinated in June this year. Also among the accused is Ahmed Bukatala, leader of the rebel brigade which was sent to bring Younes back from the front. Younes played an instrumental role in the February 18-20 liberation of Benghazi, cradle of the revolution, where he brokered a ceasefire at a besieged military base in the center of city, permitting loyalists to flee. But despite his early defection, many rebels put little faith in the general, who was part of the circle of officers that helped bring Qadaffy to power in a 1969 bloodless coup. Some blamed him directly for lack of progress in the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... -backed rebel offensive against Qadaffy's regime. It took eight months of pitched battles across the country before the veteran strongman was finally toppled. The NTC at the time set up a committee to investigate Younes' death. The case was later referred to a civil court which then passed it on to the military court. Abdel Jalil, 60, was justice minister until his defection in February 2011. He led the opposition during the war and guided Libya through a turbulent transition that culminated in July with democratic elections.

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Africa North

Libyan rebel leader spent much of past 20 years in suburban Virginia

2011-03-31

The new leader of Libya's opposition military spent the past two decades in suburban Virginia but felt compelled -- even in his late-60s -- to return to the battlefield in his homeland, according to people who know him. Khalifa Hifter was once a top military officer for Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, but after a disastrous military adventure in Chad in the late 1980s, Hifter switched to the anti-Gadhafi opposition. In the early 1990s, he moved to suburban Virginia, McLean, VA by any chance? where he established a life but maintained ties to anti-Gadhafi groups. Late last week, Hifter was appointed to lead the rebel army, which has been in chaos for weeks. He is the third such leader in less than a month, and rebels interviewed in Libya openly voiced distrust for the most recent leader, Abdel Fatah Younes, who had been at Gadhafi's side until just a month ago. Cheez, just because a guy spends three decades at the elbow of a bloodthirsty tyrant doesn't mean he can't be trusted to lead a rebel army...

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