By Libya Herald staff.
Tripoli, 18 June 2014:
A Kufra-bound aircraft carrying a Constitutional Assembly delegation was forced to make an emergency landing at a . . .[restrict]nearby oilfield airstrip last night, after the Kufra Airport control tower received anonymous threats that the plane would be shot down if it tried to land at the airport.
The spokesman for the Kufra Local Council, Mustapha Aloujli said that the airport control tower had received the threat from an unidentified caller stating that the plane would be shot as it approached the runway.
“For the sake of the passengers’ safety, the airplane crew was informed about the threat, resulting in the plane’s re-routing to the oilfield. An investigation is under way to determine the identity of those behind the threat,” Aloujli added.
According to Constitutional Assembly member, Zainab Zaidi, the plane landed at the Gialo 59 oilfield in Kufra. She added that the passengers were staying in nearby Jalu.
“We will stay in Jalu today and will hold a meeting here tomorrow, which was actually already on our agenda,” she said. [/restrict]