Libyan rebels make show of unity
After sacking cabinet and ordering crackdown on armed groups, rebel chairman summons commanders for display of loyalty.
The leader of the Libyan opposition has gathered rebel commanders to honuor the 70th anniversary of the founding of the country’s armed forces, in a display of unity aimed at restoring stability to his administration.
The ceremony came on the same day that Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the chairman of the National Transitional Council (NTC), sacked his entire cabinet for mishandling the aftermath of a high-profile assassination.
Abdel Fattah Younes, the rebels’ overall military commander, was killed late last month in murky circumstances after being summoned to Benghazi by the NTC, and his case remains unexplained.
Jalil and other opposition supporters are hoping that the cabinet shakeup, and a crackdown on independent armed groups operating in rebel territory, will help assuage local and international concern.
Al Jazeera’s Tony Birtley reports from Benghazi.