Misrata, Libya – After days of mourning, Libya is laying to relaxation its military chief, Common Mohammed al-Haddad, and 4 different outstanding navy figures.
Al-Haddad, his senior adviser, Mohamed al-Essawi, and his navy cameraman, Mohamed al-Mahjoub, had been transported to their hometown in Misrata on Saturday night for burial.
Additionally killed within the plane crash in central Turkiye on Tuesday had been the commander of military land forces, Common Fetouri Ghrebil, and the pinnacle of navy manufacturing, Mahmoud al-Gedewi, whose stays had been moved to their respective hometowns for burial.
The 5 had been returning to the North African nation from Ankara after conferences with Turkish defence officers, only a day after the Turkish parliament voted to increase the presence of its troops in Libya, as a part of efforts to bolster navy cooperation between Turkiye and the internationally recognised authorities in Tripoli.
Turkish authorities say preliminary investigations recommend a technical failure.
A Libyan navy committee went to Ankara on Wednesday to assist the investigation. A committee member informed Al Jazeera that each international locations agreed to switch the plane’s flight recorder to a impartial nation for a full investigation.
‘A dreadful scene’
After visiting the location of the crash, sources from the Libyan navy committee informed Al Jazeera it was a “dreadful scene”, with physique components scattered all over the place.
Identification was so tough that authorities needed to carry out DNA testing on the physique components to establish which of the plane passengers they belonged to.
It was solely after the lengthy, painstaking course of was accomplished that the our bodies had been lastly repatriated to Libya.
A Turkish navy ceremony was held of their honour early on Saturday morning, then the our bodies had been placed on an aeroplane for the journey to Libya, however issues turned sophisticated at that time.
The seemingly easy matter of holding ceremonies for the deceased turned a difficulty as particulars like the place they might be held had been debated hotly within the fractured nation.
Is Common al-Haddad replaceable?
The Tripoli authorities is overseen by the Presidential Council, a three-member physique that serves because the supreme commander of the navy, in keeping with the Libyan Political Settlement.
Nevertheless, Libya’s rival authorities within the east, managed by renegade navy commander Khalifa Haftar, don’t recognise them, regardless of the eastern-based parliament signing the settlement.
Al-Haddad was seen by some as a person of peace, well-respected by folks throughout the nation, even these he fought towards.
He performed a vital position within the battle towards Haftar throughout the latter’s navy marketing campaign on Tripoli in 2019, an assault that noticed Haftar’s forces on the outskirts of Tripoli.
Below al-Haddad, authorities forces retook western Libya and compelled Haftar again to the east, and al-Haddad helped pave the way in which for the nationwide ceasefire settlement signed in 2020.
Haftar launched an announcement saying he was “deeply saddened” by al-Haddad’s loss of life and expressed his condolences to his household.
In Could, clashes broke out round Mitiga worldwide airport between authorities forces and the Particular Deterrent Drive, a robust armed group that stories to the Presidential Council and opposes the interim prime minister in Tripoli, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah.
Dbeibah gave the Particular Deterrent Drive (SDF) an ultimatum at hand over the airport, their prisons, and assimilate into the state safety equipment, or be focused by the federal government.
With assist and intervention by the Turkish authorities, a ceasefire was reached, and a truce committee, chaired by al-Haddad, was established by the Presidential Council and the United Nations Help Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).
There is no such thing as a doubt that discovering a substitute for al-Haddad won’t be a simple job. The Presidential Council appointed his deputy, Common Salah al-Namroush, quickly.
Throughout his eulogy, al-Namroush “bid farewell to the boys of the nation who carried the nation’s burdens and made self-discipline a lifestyle and management a accountability”.
He mentioned he would comply with within the footsteps of al-Haddad, and pledged “to proceed unifying the military”.
Though will probably be tough, political analyst Mohamed Mahfoudh informed Al Jazeera: “Discussions are already underneath means; given the significance of the place, I count on a choice to be made throughout the subsequent 10 days.”
Libya has seen widespread frustration and up to date protests towards the federal government over the financial state of affairs, prompting officers to announce a plan to reshuffle the cupboard earlier this month.
The shuffle was scheduled to be introduced on December 24, however al-Haddad’s loss of life postponed that.
“Now, the chief of employees place shall be entered into the cupboard reshuffle discussions. Which means Haddad’s substitute might be a political determination to appease sure stakeholders, moderately than somebody who’s certified for the place.
“That’s a concern many people have,” Mahfoudh mentioned.
A story of two airports
In an illustration of Libya’s break up, the federal government in Tripoli needed to obtain the our bodies of al-Haddad and different navy officers on the metropolis’s worldwide airport, which was destroyed in preventing in 2014.
It’s at the moment underneath renovation and now serves solely authorities and emergency medical evacuation planes.
Nevertheless, usually the our bodies would have been acquired at Mitiga worldwide airport, which is now Tripoli’s predominant industrial airport, however since it’s underneath SDF management, PM Dbeibah couldn’t be there.
He isn’t welcome.
So, Dbeibah, members of the Presidential Council, and senior authorities and navy officers waited for the our bodies at Tripoli worldwide airport.
They had been taken to a military base in southern Tripoli for a navy ceremony of their honour, the place Presidential Council head, Mohamed al-Menfi, declared “the promotion of every martyr to the subsequent rank”, making al-Haddad a area marshal posthumously.
“Area Marshal Mohamed al-Haddad was a cornerstone to defending the state and sustaining stability,” mentioned Dbeibah on the ceremony.
He assured those that investigations into the crash “are persevering with with full accuracy and credibility in coordination with Turkiye”.
Al-Haddad, al-Essawi, and al-Mahjoub’s our bodies had been flown to their hometowns in Misrata on Saturday night.
On Sunday morning, folks got here from everywhere in the nation to put them to relaxation.
Hundreds of individuals gathered within the Misrata soccer stadium for a farewell prayer for the departed. Misrata metropolis officers introduced the day as an official vacation to present folks time without work to attend the funeral.
Abdullah Allafi, a tribal chief from al-Rajban within the Nafusa Mountains of western Libya, left house at 3am to drive tons of of kilometres to pay his respects.
When requested about al-Haddad’s loss of life, he mentioned: “It’s an enormous loss. Mohamed al-Haddad’s loss of life is a loss for all of us and for Libya. He was a real patriot. Could Allah relaxation his soul.
“Our presence here’s a image of unity. Sufficient divisions, it’s time to return collectively and construct a nation and a united navy.”
