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By Libya Herald reporters.
Tripoli, 5 September 2014:
Striking workers shut down Tripoli’s Mitiga Airport for some hours today after check-in staff were . . .[restrict]reportedly beaten up for refusing to board a passenger.
A source at the airport told the Libya Herald that the fracas broke out when someone seeking to join a flight to Istanbul was refused a boarding pass. Armed militiamen, who were seemingly friends of the frustrated traveller, then attacked at least one of the airport staff. As a result other employees at Mitiga went on strike and stopped all outbound flights.
This evening, Mohamed Gnewa, a spokesman for the Libyan Civil Aviation Authority told this newspaper that the strike had been settled and airport staff had returned to their posts. Flights were now running in and out of Mitiga.
The incident will however have undermined attempts to have Mitiga accepted, particularly by European aviation authorities, as a safe and viable alternative to the wrecked and burnt-out Tripoli International on the other side of the capital. There are so far unconfirmed reports that a deal with a Turkish company is in the offing for the construction of a new terminal at Mitiga in only 60 days. [/restrict]
