serviceyears branch commands allegiance battles rank article_title name
? -- 2011 '' libyan army '' deputy chief of staff of the libyan army libya 1977 libyan arab jamahiriya 2011 libyan civil war brigadier-general mahdi al-arabi
 mahdi al-arabi
mahdi al-arabi

mahdi al-arabi , is a libyan brigadier-general who served under the libyan armed forces loyal to muammar gaddafi .
he was the deputy chief of staff of the libyan army .
during the 2011 libyan civil war he was put in charge of helping to suppress protests , most notably in the libyan city of zawiya .
on 21 august , anti-gaddafi forces reportedly arrested arabi in zawiya .
video purportedly of arabi in detention was posted to youtube on 11 september .
