By Olfa Andolsi.
Tunis, 8 November 2017:
Authorities of Benina international have angrily denied that they have threatened to close the airport because of poor security.
“The report that the airport might close is incorrect” said Benina spokesman Tarek Al-Kharraz, “We do not know where the information came from”.
The report was in fact carried yesterday on the airport’s social media page but Kharraz did not say if the site had been hacked or how else the post came to be there.
He denied that there have been any chaotic disputes among the bodies responsible for airport security. He explained that the customs, internal security and police worked inside the terminal while the Libyan National Army was responsible for the external security. He said there was no overlap in their duties, so no reason for any issues between them.
But he did admit: “There are some problems that occur from time to time, especially in flight schedules and some other minor issues but that does would not mean closing the airport”.
However, despite all the security arrangements, in September members of the Awagir tribe were able to reach the apron to welcome the Government of National Accord’s (GNA) newly-appointed deputy interior minister Faraj Al-Gaem when he flew in from Tunis. Himself an Awagir, Gaem’s arrival was seen as a direct challenge to armed-forces-commander in chief Khalifa Hafter, a former ally with whom he had fallen out.
This week Gaem survived a car bomb attack in Benghazi.
