BENGHAZI, Libya – Libya’s rebels disbanded the group’s de facto cabinet on Monday in an effort to ease the worst internal crisis following the assassination of their top military commander.
General Abdel Fatah Younis was killed July 28 by unknown assailants hours after he was detained, on orders from a rebel minister and a panel of judges, for questioning over his stewardship of the rebel fight.
The killing exposed rifts within the rebel organization as it dealt with its first major leadership crisis since the uprising began in February. Gen. Younis’ powerful Ubeidat Tribe and his loyal special forces fighters at first appeared poised to take justice into their own hands and possibly even turn against rebel leaders and fellow commanders, sparking fears that the rebel group may unravel amid violent infighting.
But with the exception of a few isolated incidents in the first hours after Gen. Younis’ killing, the rebel leadership has managed to quell anger and maintain order within the rebel ranks.
Rebel officials said they hope the cabinet reshuffle will satisfy Gen. Younis’ supporters and help put the crisis to bed.
Many of those supporters have blamed senior rebel officials for first ordering Gen. Younis’ arrest, and for mishandling the aftermath, which gave the perpetrators the window needed to kill him.
A spokesman for Gen. Younis’ tribe and immediate family, said they would not be satisfied until the culprits were brought to justice.
«We will only be pleased on bringing those who are involved in the assassination to justice, regardless of their ranks and titles, to be prosecuted by a fair civilian judicial system,» said the spokesman Abdel Razaq al-Ubeidy, who is also a cousin of Gen. Younis.
Top rebel spokesman Abdel-Hafiz Ghoga announced the shakeup in an interview with the Al Jazeera television network on Monday night.
«Due to the shortcomings in the performance of some members of the executive committee with regard to this crisis, the Council has decided to form a new committee,» Mr. Ghoga said.
Rebel officials said the shakeup of the rebels’ so-called executive committee would see many current ministers return to their former posts, but some would be replaced.
A member of the rebels’ 45-member provisional governing body, the National Transitional Council, said NTC members would collectively debate and decide on members of the new rebel cabinet. The outgoing cabinet was handpicked by former rebel prime minister Mahmoud Jabril.
Two ministers in particular, the executive committee’s deputy chairman Ali al-Essawi and Defense Minister Jalal al-Dugheily, have been singled out by critics for their roles in the Younis crisis. Mr. Essawi is widely alleged to have signed the warrant ordering Gen. Younis’ arrest. Mr. Dugheily, meanwhile, has been taken to task for leaving for Egypt just hours after Gen. Younis’ arrest.
The NTC member said that Mssrs. Essawi and Dugheily, in addition to oil and finance minister Ali al-Tarhouni and health minister Naji al-Barakat, would not be reappointed to their posts.
Who killed Gen. Younis and how it happened while he was supposedly in rebel custody remains a mystery. Rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil has appointed two committees to investigate the killing, a criminal committee tasked with rooting out the shooters, and an administrative committee tasked with looking into the rebel leadership’s handling of the runup to and aftermath of the killing.
Neither committee has yet announced any results of their investigation.
—Muneef Halawa contributed to this article.
Write to Charles Levinson at charles.levinson@wsj.com
Source: online.wsj.com