Tripoli, 14 May:
In what may be a reaction to Mauritania’s refusal to hand over Abdullah al-Senussi, Libya is reported to have . . .[restrict]refused permission for one of the national flag carrier’s aircraft to cross Libyan airspace en route to Cairo for servicing.
Mauritania Airlines International, according to sources in the capital Nouakchott, requested a flight plan over Libya for one of its four Boeing airliners. The application was refused. In an apparently bizarre twist, the aircraft, with the airline’s general manager and other staff members on board, flew instead to Tunis, before the Tunisian authorities had approved the flight. The aircraft, a Boeing 737 is now stranded in Tunis, because it is not considered airworthy.
This April, the airline signed a deal with Egyptair Maintenance and Engineering to look after three Boeing 737s.
No formal link has yet been made between the Libyan overflight ban and Mauritania’s refusal to hand over Qaddafi’s brother-in-law and security chief al-Senussi, who is also wanted by the International Criminal Court and the French authorities. Al-Senussi, who was travelling on a false passport, was arrested in Nouakchott in March, in an operation believed to have involved French intelligence.
Libya is demanding that the ICC permit Libyan courts to try both al-Senussi and Saif Qaddafi. The former is reportedly suffering from liver disease, which is holding up his repatriation by the Mauritanian authorities.
On the face of it, Libya is content with this explanation. In its recent submission to the ICC demanding the international court gives up its attempt to try the two men itself, Libya has pointed out: “The severity of Mr. al-Senussi’s liver disease has become apparent and his health condition is now such that it is understood that he cannot presently be investigated domestically for breaches of Mauritanian law, let alone transferred back to Libya.”
The submission goes on to say that the Mauritanian and Libya justice ministries are in close contact so that they can determine when Senussi will be fit enough to be handed over to Libya.
Mauritanian Airlines International is a state-owned carrier set up in 2010. It has a limited schedule of medium and short-haul flights to West Africa and one service to Paris. [/restrict]
