Rebel feud puts UK's Libya policy in jeopardy

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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/rebel-feud-puts-uks-libya-policy-in-jeopardy-2328626.html

The credibility of the British-backed rebel forces in Libya has been thrown into doubt after the shock assassination of a top military commander led to claims that the movement is enmeshed in a bloody internal feud.

Increasing evidence has begun to emerge that the savage killings of General Abdel Fatah Younes and two other senior officers – who were shot and whose bodies were burnt – may have been carried out by their own side.

The news of the deaths led to outbreaks of violence in the opposition capital, Benghazi, yesterday, with troops loyal to the General and members of the large and powerful tribe to which he belonged, the Obeidis, vowing retribution.

The killings came at a difficult time for David Cameron's government, which just a day earlier had formally recognised the rebel Transitional National Council (TNC) as the representatives of the Libyan state and ordered diplomats of the Tripoli regime to leave the UK. In a speech offering unreserved praise, the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, had praised the rebels' "increasing legitimacy, competence and success." Major Younes is believed to have been under arrest on the orders of the chairman of the TNC, Mustafa Abdul Jalil – a former justice minister under Col Gaddafi – at the time of his death on Thursday evening. Yesterday, as the circumstances surrounding the killing remained hazy, Alistair Burt, a Foreign Office Minister, spoke to Mr Jalil.

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1. Regime taunts UK over Younes death

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/regime-taunts-uk-over-younes-death-2328889.html

The death of a rebel military commander proves that Britain has made a mistake by recognising the National Transitional Council as the "sole governmental authority" in Libya, according to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

Tripoli said the killing of General Abdel Fattah Younes, a former government minister who defected to the rebels, was "a nice slap to the face" of the UK and proof the NTC could not rule Libya.

Mystery still surrounds the death of General Younes, who was shot earlier this week.

Rebels claim the commander and two aides were killed by gunmen after being recalled from the front.