Tripoli, March 14: The government has announced on Wednesday that it is starting to take over airports, ports and border crossings and . . .[restrict]airports from the brigades that have been manning them since the revolution.
“The government will today begin the process of taking control” of the places in an “important step to strengthen confidence in the state”, said government spokesperson Nasser Al-Mana. He said the takeover includes Tripoli International Airport, held by the Zintan brigade since the liberation of the capital last August, as well as Misrata sea and airports, Metiga airport, the Ras Jdair and Ghadames border crossings and other border posts.
Al-Mana said that there had been talks on the mechanics of the handover at a meeting on Tuesday between the government, the NTC and the brigades. “The thwars (revolutionaries) agreed to provide the airports and border points,” Manaa said afterwards.
He gave his thanks and appreciation to the thuwar for their operating of these border crossings throughout this past period. He underlined that the handover of these posts sends a clear message, locally and internationally, that the situation in Libya is safe and secure. The spokesman then went on to add that efforts are continuing to takeover numerous government administrative sites to handover to various ministries and governmental organizations.
The handovers follow last week’s conference and agreement in Misrata that all revolutionary brigades must return to their home towns and hand over all ports, airports, border crossings, checkpoints, camps and other properties and assets held by them to state control.
During the conference, Misrata Local Council announced that the city’s port and airport together with checkpoints had been handed over to government control. Councils and brigades in the south also announced they were handing control. The following day, the Suq Al-Juma Brigade handed over control of Tripoli’s Mitiga airbase to the Libyan airforce
Ports, airports and border crossings in the east of the country were handed over by Monday, March 5 — the deadline the government had set last month. However, brigades elsewhere in the country refused, which was the reason for the Misrata conference. [/restrict]
