Tripoli’s Mitiga Airport reopens as UN envoy declares it a purly civilian facility

BY Libyan Express Oct 29, 2019 - 20:09

In a joint press conference in Tripoli, the Libyan Transportation and Interior Ministers Mild Matouq and Fathi Bashagha as well as the UN envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame announced the reopening of Tripoli’s only operational airport, Mitiga, after two months of shutdown following a series of airstrikes by Khalifa Haftar’s forces.

The UN envoy said the UNSMIL made sure that Mitiga Airport is a civilian facility that has no military presence and that there can be no excuse of any party to make it a target for its military attacks anymore.

Salame said the UNSMIL decided to have a special departure and arrival spot at the Mitiga Airport for its own flights and for all diplomatic missions in Libya as well as for repatriation of illegal immigrants from Libya in order to send a message that Mitiga Airport is civilian and cannot be targeted.

Meanwhile, the Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha stated that any attacks on Mitiga Airport in the future will be war crimes and the Ministry will take strict measures to thwart them.

The Minister of Transportation said it is now up to the airliners to resume flights at the airport and that operations at the airport will return to normal gradually over the upcoming two weeks.

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