Exclusive: Libya oil rebel's brother arrested in UAE

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By Patrick Markey and Ghaith Shennib TRIPOLI (Reuters) - The brother of a former rebel who has blockaded Libyan oil ports was held in Dubai after Tripoli issued an Interpol notice for his arrest on charges of trying to smuggle oil, Libyan government officials said. The arrest of the brother of Ibrahim al-Jathran, whose blockade has cost the state billions of dollars, came as the government wages a campaign of attrition to weaken his movement for more autonomy and control of oil wealth in eastern Libya. Nearly three years after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi, the oil port blockade is one of most serious challenges in Libya's struggle to rein in former rebels who once fought Gaddafi but now refuse to accept the state's authority. A former anti-Gaddafi rebel who become a commander of a state force set up to guard oil installations, Jathran and his troops defected in August and seized three oil ports, set up a self-styled government and cut off around 600,000 barrels a day of crude export capacity.

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