Watching Libya July 29, 2011

According to Al Jazeera, General Abdel Fatah Younis, the chief of staff of the Transitional National Council (TNC)’s army, was arrested by the TNC yesterday, Thursday, July 28, either following his return from the Brega front in the early morning, or in Brega  (see our map below) itself before being brought to Benghazi by TNC security. The report, filed in by the network’s Tony Birtley from Benghazi, was based on unconfirmed reports. Birtley’s sources claimed that Younis was arrested for “dealing with and smuggling arms to” Gheddafi loyalists, and that he was taken to an undisclosed military garrison in Benghazi. Birtley also reported “an ugly situation in the making”, with some men loyal to Younis coming back from the front to Benghazi to demand his release.

(from Watching Libya April 9/10, 2011)

It was late yesterday (Thursday) that TNC head, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, announced that Younis, a former general in the regime’s army and Gheddafi’s interior minister until last February when he defected, had been found dead together with two aides. It is not clear what happened to the three bodies.  Jalil, who hailed Younis "one of the heroes of the 17th of February revolution" – with reference to the beginning of popular protests against the regime – indicated, but did not say so explicitly, that behind Gheddafi was ultimately behind Younis’ death. Jalil also warned rogue “armed groups” in liberated towns that they would be arrested by the TNC’s security units if they did not integrate themselves in the struggle against the regime.

It appears that it was during or towards the end of Jalil’s press conference yesterday evening, as he was announcing Younis’ killing, that the latter’s supporters assembled in front the Tibesti Hotel, where the conference was being held, and confronted TNC security who prevented them from entering the building. Weapons may have been fired in the air. AFP, quoting a witness, reports that some Younis loyalists shouted “You killed him”. James Haider, The Times (UK) correspondent, told CNN that the events around this case were “extremely murky”. He also suggested that there were internal divisions within the TNC’s army.

We are not in a position to verify any of the doubts that emerge from this far from limpid narrative. That the TNC is not as resolutely united as it would need to be if it is to win the war against the regime, is common knowledge. As is also well known that frustration at the slow pace of the TNC’s armed forces advance towards Tripoli is fuelling distrust of some of its commanders. In the case of Abdel Fatah Younis, his 40 year friendship with Gheddafi before his defection has not helped him to win acceptance of all elements of the TNC, of the rank and file, and of the street. Ironically, his arrest and death, came after the announcement of not insignificant gains at the feet of the Jabal Nafusah in the north west of the country south of Tripoli.

(from Watching Libya April 6, 2011 below)

A military issue that the international media are, surprisingly, not focussing on, however, is the apparent failure to secure at least the oil pipelines that link the oil fields of Messla and Sarir to the Marsa el Hariga export terminal in Tobruk. See our map above. [Read more about the location of eastern oil fields in relation to the coastal hubs of the Gulf of Sirte and the Cyrenaica in Watching Libya April 5, 2011, Watching Libya April 6, 2011, Watching Libya April 2/3, 2011 and Watching Libya March 11, 2011 below.] In view of the slowness with which the Temporary Funding Mechanism is taking off, it is vital that the TNC begins to export oil immediately. [Read more about the Temporary Funding Mechanism in Watching Libya May 7/8, 2011]. Although promises of the imminent unfreezing of some the regime’s international assets have been made, the TNC cannot wait much longer. Its own credibility on the ground in the liberated areas of the country depends on its ability to export oil now.