Delayed Departure Of Tunisian Airbus At Mitiga Airport

About a dozen cars fill with protesters drove onto the tarmac at Mitiga Airport in Tripoli and surrounded a Tunisian A300 airliner with passengers on board Saturday, preventing it from departing.

The protesters said they were upset that the National Transition Council (NTC) has not launched an investigation into a clash between militias in the town of Bani Walid southeast of Tripoli, a pro-Gaddafi stronghold. Several members of the Souq al-Juma militia were killed in that skirmish, according to a report from Reuters.

A Tunisair spokeswoman said some of the protesters tried to board the aircraft in an attempt to check the identities of some injured Libyans on the plane, but they were denied access by the flight's captain. Most of the protesters appeared to be civilians, though a few wore fatigues and carried weapons, according to the report.

A spokesman for the protesters said that the protest was peaceful, and that the group did not wish to harm anyone. He said that they were attempting to "explain to the government that we have a request, that the government should respond to us."

The flight eventually departed. Some Libyan passengers chose voluntarily to deplane, but no details were given as to why they did so.

FMI: www.libyanmission-un.org