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By Ashraf Abdul Wahab and Tom Westcott.
Tripoli, 1 March 2014:
Several groups of protestors with different demands caused severe disruption at Benghazi’s . . .[restrict]Benina Airport today.
“The airport has not been officially closed, but there has been an issue all day with people blocking the passenger terminal,” Director General of Libya’s Civil Aviation Authority (LYCAA) Captain Nasereddin Shaebelain told the Libya Herald.
He said the protestors, who were blocking the entrance to the airport, were family members of the pilots lost when an Air Force helicopter went missing on 12 February.
“There are some restrictions on domestic flights but international flights are still working as usual,” Shaebelain said. “The problem remains in the passenger terminal and is not affecting aviation safety, so the LYCAA has not closed the airport.”
He said negotiations were underway and that the LYCAA hoped that the situation would be resolved soon.
This is the second protest staged by relatives demanding that the government steps up efforts to find out what happened to the helicopter, which lost communications with Benina Airbase some 30 minutes after taking off from Essider.
“The Air Force undertook immediate search and rescue operations, and these continued for way beyond the normal time-frame for a loss of an aircraft,” a Ministry of Defence source told the Libya Herald. “The coverage area of the search focussed around the sea and coastline from Essider to Benghazi, and this continues, even though the incident occurred over two weeks ago.” He added that the Libyan Air Force had also been co-ordinating with international air and sea assets.
The source said it was essential for the Libyan Armed Forces to find the remains of the helicopter, not only for the families of the lost men but also to forensically determine whether the helicopter crashed due to a mechanical failure or if it had been shot down.
Captain Hussein Fitouri, from the Benghazi Pilot’s Union, said that other groups in and around the airport were demonstrating against the extension of the GNC and about the lack of security in Benghazi, which has provoked a number of recent protests. Some had erected a tent in the middle of the road leading to the airport, he said, preventing people from reaching Beninia.
Talks had been held, he added, between the protestors, airport staff and members of the local council. [/restrict]
