Hot Contents: Abdel Fattah Younes al-Abidi

2011/03/29

Abdel Fattah Younes al-Abidi

Abdul Fatah Younis

Abdul Fatah Younis عبد الفتاح يونس
Allegiance	Formerly Libya under Gaddafi, Later Anti-Gaddafi forces
Service/branch	Army
Rank	General
Battles/wars	Battle of Ra's Lanuf, Battle of Brega, Battle of Bin Jawad

Abdul Fatah Younis (Arabic: عبد الفتاح يونس‎) is a senior military officer in Libya. He held the rank of General and the post of Minister of Interior, but resigned on 22 February 2011, amid the 2011 Libyan protests. He was considered a key supporter of Muammar al-Gaddafi or even No. 2 in the Libyan government.

In resigning, he urged that the Libyan army should "join the people and respond to their legitimate demands". In an interview with John Simpson on 25 February, he said he believed Gaddafi would fight to the death, or commit suicide.

He was previously minister for public security, and attended a key meeting with the British ambassador to Egypt in 1992 where he apologised for Libya's involvement in the killing of Yvonne Fletcher, and offered to extradite her killers; he also admitted Libyan support of the IRA and offered compensation for their victims. Following confirmation that Younis had indeed defected to the side of the rebels, he was declared Commander in Chief of its armed forces.