Islamists suspected over Libyan rebel death - Reuters Africa

* Younes killed by men sent to bring him to Benghazi

* Suspicions mount over Islamists

* Assassination adds to West's worries about rebels

* Anti-Gaddafi forces claim towns near Tunisian border

By Rania El Gamal

BENGHAZI, Libya, July 30 (Reuters) - Libyan rebels say the gunmen who shot dead their military chief were members of an Islamist-linked militia that is allied to their struggle to overthrow veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The assassination of Abdel Fattah Younes, apparently by his own side, has hurt the opposition just as it was winning broader international recognition and launching an offensive against Gaddafi's forces in the west of the country.

It will deepen concerns among the rebels' Western backers including the United States, keen to see them prevail in a five-month-old civil war but frustrated by their lack of unity and nervous about the influence of Islamists.   Continued...