Libya closes Tripoli airport over safety

Libyan authorities have closed the capital Tripoli’s only functioning airport, diverting traffic to another one at the nearby militia-controlled city of Misrata.

The move yesterday came after the UN-backed Tripoli government handed control of the facility from one militia to another, prompting the Transport Ministry to order its closure on security concerns.

Deputy Transport Minister Hisham Boushkiwat called the closing of Mitiga airport “unfortunate” but said that in the past “some things inside the airport have threatened traveller safety”.

He underlined ongoing nearby militia conflict in the capital as another reason behind the closure, but added that he hoped the airport would be reopened soon.

The airport has been closed in the past, including last week when it was attacked by missiles of an unknown provenance.

Powerful armed groups, including ultra-conservative Salafists and neighbourhood militiamen, have consolidated their grip under the watch of the internationally recognised government.

The growing strength and wealth of these “super militias” has stirred resentment among rivals excluded from the capital or from access to lucrative financial scams and the shadow economy.

The splits have also given space to militants trying to regroup after Daesh lost its stronghold of Sirte in 2016.

Since disputed elections and an escalation of fighting in 2014 there have been rival governments, one based in the east and the other in the capital Tripoli.

Tripoli is home to the unelected Government of National Accord, an interim administration brought in by a UN-brokered deal in December 2015.

The GNA has built some fragile alliances in western regions, but has little popular support or leverage over Tripoli’s militias, on which it depends for its own security.