Abu-Bakr Yunis Jabr

Abu-Bakr Yunis Jabr (Arabic: أبو بكر يونس جابر‎), (1940 – 20 October 2011) was the Libyan Minister of Defence during the period of Muammar Gaddafi. His official position was Secretary of the Libyan General Interim Committee for Defence.

Abu-Bakr Yunis Jabr
Abu-Bakr Yunis Jabr in 2010.
Minister of Defence
In office
January 1970 [1] – 20 October 2011
PresidentMuhammad al-Zanati
Miftah Muhammed K'eba
Imbarek Shamekh
Mohamed Abu Al-Quasim al-Zwai
LeaderMuammar Gaddafi
Personal details
Born1940
Jalu, Libya
Died20 October 2011 (aged 71)
Sirte, Libya[2]
Cause of deathAssassination
Resting placeLibyan Desert

Early life and education

There is disagreement about the year of Jabr's birth. According to the UN he was born in 1952 in Jalu, Libya.[3] The German newspaper the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung gives the much earlier date of 1940.[4] Educated at the Military Academy in Benghazi, Jabr shared classes with Muammar Gaddafi.[4]

Career

Later Gaddafi and Jabr became members of the Free Officers Movement which on 1 September 1969 removed King Idris from power in a bloodless coup and brought Gaddafi to power.[4] Jabr has been head of the Libyan Army since the 1970s and was one of the original members of the 12 army officials of the Revolutionary Command Council led by Gaddafi. He, Gaddafi and the other surviving members of the RCC sat atop the "revolutionary sector" which oversaw the government. The leaders of the revolutionary sector were not subject to election, since they owed their offices to their roles in the 1969 coup, officially described during Gaddafi's time as "the revolution."

Libyan Civil War

Jabr was reported to be under arrest and in prison for not obeying orders to kill protesters.[5] It was reported on 7 June 2011 that Jabr was executed by the government for refusing to carry out orders to kill protesters.[6] On 13 June, Libyan state television showed footage of him for the first time, in what they claim was him greeting soldiers at the frontline in the oil town of Brega.[7] On 2 August, The Washington Post wrote that on Libyan state television, Gaddafi's defense minister, Jabr, announced that members of the army who defected to join the rebels and returned to the government would be protected by a general pardon.[8]

Death
See also: Death of Muammar Gaddafi

Jabr died in the Battle of Sirte. On 20 October 2011, Al Jazeera reported that Jabr was killed in Sirte. He was in a car convoy with Gaddafi trying to flee from the Siege of Sirte. After the convoy was attacked by NATO aircraft he sought shelter from shrapnel in drain pipes with Gaddafi. NTC fighters captured him and Gaddafi. Yunis Jabr was with a group of Gaddafi loyalists, when a guard saw a group of rebels approaching them, off in the distance. He then threw a grenade at them. However, the grenade then bounced off a concrete wall, and landed back in front of them. The guard then attempted to pick the grenade up, but when he did so, it exploded, killing both the guard and Abu-Bakr Yunis Jabr. Witnesses say that Yunis Jabr then died, on his way to a hospital.[2][9] Al Jazeera also aired footage of his body being driven away in an ambulance.[10]

In January 2012, footage of Jabr's body being mutilated and spray-painted by rebels appeared on YouTube.[11]

See also

References
  1. John Pike. "Military Leadership". Global Security. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  2. "Accounts emerge of Gaddafi's final moments". Al Jazeera. 4 October 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  3. "In Swift, Decisive Action, Security Council Imposes Tough Measures on Libyan Regime, Adopting Resolution 1970 in Wake of Crackdown on Protesters". UN. 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  4. "Aufstand in Syrien: Alle Nachrichten aus der arabischen Welt". FAZ. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  5. McDermott, Roger. "Can African Mercenaries Save the Libyan Regime?". Jamestown Foundation. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  6. "Mutassim Gaddafi Is Dead: Killed in Brega by NATO airstrike". Allvoices. 7 June 2011. Archived from the original on 22 January 2013. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  7. "Libyan rebels edge westwards out of Misrata". Reuters. 13 June 2011.
  8. Booth, William (2 August 2011). "In war-torn Libya, no pause for Ramadan". The Washington Post.
  9. "Gaddafi spokesman Moussa Ibrahim captured --NTC". Reuters. 20 October 2011.
  10. "Muammar Gaddafi killed as Sirte falls". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  11. "Abu-Bakr Yunis Jabr after being killed". Youtube. 17 January 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
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