The commander of the self-styled army in eastern Libya, Khalifa Haftar, has ordered the military prosecutor in east Libya to immediately and urgently reopen the investigation” of the killing of Abdulfattah Younes and two of his comrades: Mohammed Al-Abedi and Nassir Al-Madkour.

Yones and the comrades were killed in July 2011. He defected at the start of the revolution in February 2011 and became the military chief of the National Transitional Council.

Yones was summoned from frontlines in Ajdabiya on July 28 2011 by fellow revolutionaries for investigation, and then was killed and the two comrades.

Haftar urged the prosecutor to contact all needed local and international parties to demand the handover of the figures wanted in this case to be tried in Libya.

The reopening of Yones's case after seven years comes as a reaction to the appointment of Ali Al-Essawi as a new economy and industry minister at the Presidential Council's government, since Al-Essawi was a foreign minister at the National Transitional Council and was a suspect of the murder.

Meanwhile, protests took place in Yones's hometown, Tobruk, after the reopening of the investigation with some residents chanting slogans calling on Haftar to "leave" accusing him of being involved in the killing.

Haftar, according to sources close to Tobruk parliament, is willing to strengthen security in east Libya after dissatisfaction amid the tribes in the region and rejection to his power pursuit.