30 Jul 2011

Rebel general killed

8:57 am on 30 July 2011

Rebel leaders in Libya say their military commander has been shot dead in an incident that is shrouded in mystery.

The ABC reports both sides blame each other for the killing.

Abdel Fattah Younes was part of the group involved in the 1969 coup that brought Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to power and was interior minister before he defected and took a senior position in the rebellion in February.

However the Transitional Council was nervous that he was still too close to Colonel Gaddafi and had summoned him for questioning.

Rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil said in Benghazi that General Younes was shot before appearing in front of a judicial committee.

He blamed the killing on pro-Gaddafi loyalists and rejected any suggestion the TNC might have been behind it.