Picture dated March 13, 2011 shows General Abdel Fattah Yunis, commander of Libya's rebel forces, holding a press conference at a hotel in Benghazi.GIANLUIGI GUERCIA
Crowds filled the central square of Benghazi for a massive display of rebel unity after the mysterious death of the rebellion's most prominent military commander threatened to sow dissent within the ranks.
The regular Friday prayers in the main rebel stronghold turned into a series of political speeches about how the gunmen fighting Colonel Moammar Gadhafi should continue working together and avoid turning weapons against each other.
Those were timely messages, coming after a chaotic Thursday in which the rebel council announced that it had recalled a top commander, General Abdel-Fattah Younis, for questioning - and he died under unclear circumstances on the same day.
The rebels said that Gen. Younis was assassinated. A coffin was draped with a rebel flag and paraded on the shoulders of mourners, while prominent figures spoke to the crowd about Gen. Younis' accomplishments and bravery.
Most significantly, the general's nephew, Mohammed Hamid Younis, took the microphone and pledged his family's loyalty to the rebel council.
"We will go on the same track, the same path," said the young man, wearing a rebel uniform. "We promised [rebel leader]Mustafa Abdul Jalil that we will continue on the same path because this is our cause and the cause of our martyr. We will always be with you, in order to achieve our cause, and get rid of the tyrant."
Gen. Younis was killed as he travelled from his front lines operations room to the rebels' de facto capital Benghazi. Attending his funeral, his nephew Hisham al-Obaidi said that the attackers shot Gen. Younis, then slit his throat, set fire to his body and dumped it outside Benghazi.
The death spread fear and confusion in Benghazi, where heavy gunfire crackled in the early hours Friday. Residents worried about the possibility it could undermine the rebels' military forces, leaving the opposition-held east vulnerable to attack by Moammar Gadhafi's forces.
Equally worrisome was the possibility his killing may point to a split among rebels. The circumstances of his death remained almost entirely unexplained. The head of the rebel National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, blamed "gunmen" and said one man had been arrested, but Mr. Abdul-Jalil did not say what he believed motivated the killers.
Mr. Abdul-Jalil said Younis had been "summoned" to Benghazi for questioning on a "military matter" and was killed along with two aides while on route. But hours before the commander's death was announced, rebel military spokesman Mohammed al-Rijali had said Gen. Younis was taken to Benghazi for "interrogation" on suspicion his family might still have ties to Col. Gadhafi regime, raising questions about whether he might have been assassinated by his own side.
Gen. Younis was Col. Gadhafi's interior minister before defecting to the rebels early in the uprising, which began in February. His abandoning of the Libyan leader raised Western hopes that the growing opposition could succeed in forcing out the country's ruler of more than four decades.
Rebel forces, however, held mixed views of the man, with some praising him for defecting and others suspicious of him because of his long association with Col. Gadhafi.
Troubles among the rebels - at a time when their forces have failed to make battlefield gains despite nearly four months of NATO airstrikes against Col. Gadhafi's forces - could shake the confidence of the United States, Britain and several dozen other nations that have recognized the rebel council as Libya's legitimate leaders.
The British minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Alistair Burt, said Friday he spoke with the council chief, Mr. Abdul-Jalil and welcomed the rebels' announcement of an investigation.
"Exactly what happened remains unclear," Mr. Burt said in a statement. "We agreed that it is important that those responsible are held to account through proper judicial processes."
French military spokesman Col. Thierry Burkhard said there was no immediate change in the NATO strategy in the wake of Gen. Younis' death and suggested there would not be. He said the NATO campaign was based on a UN mandate "and it does not let individual people feature in the game."
With files from The Associated Press