Libya Rebels Tap Army Defectors

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Source: Wall Street Journal
By CHARLES LEVINSON

BENGHAZI, Libya—Defected Libyan military commanders and their units are taking the lead in the fight against forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, in a rebel bid to stanch setbacks on the front lines and facilitate greater cooperation with coalition forces.

But as the army has stepped up its role, a leadership squabble has emerged among two rebel commanders. That could pose an early test to the strength of the civilian rebel leadership's control over the military, since some military commanders appear to disagree with the leadership decisions made by the civilian leaders.

The two rival commanders are the rebel-appointed Army Chief of Staff Abdel Fattah Younis, the former Minister of Interior under Col. Gadhafi, and Col. Khalifa Hiftar, the former commander of Libyan forces in Chad during Libya's war there in the 1980s. Mr. Hiftar later defected and sought asylum in the U.S., residing in rural Virginia until he returned to Libya in mid-March, shortly before the coalition air campaign began.

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