Libya unity govt protests at ‘untruths’ in UN report

Ghassan Salame, UN special envoy for Libya and head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), speaking during an interview with AFP at his office in the capital Tripoli. (AFP)

• Mitiga has closed several times over the past four months because of a battle for Tripoli
• Nearly 1,100 people have been killed since Haftar launched the offensive against the capital

TRIPOLI: Libya’s Government of National Accord has protested at what it said were “untruths” in UN envoy Ghassan Salame’s latest report on the conflict in the North African country.
Fayed Al-Sarraj, head of the UN-recognized GNA which is based in Tripoli, summoned Salame on Wednesday “to deliver a protest note over untruths” in his report to the United Nations Security Council, it said.
Salame, in a videoconference on Monday, raised the alarm over “the increasing frequency of attacks on Mitiga,” the Libyan capital’s only functioning airport.
“Several of these attacks have come perilously close to hitting civilian aircraft with passengers on board,” he said.
Salame urged “the authorities in Tripoli to cease using the airport for military purposes and for the attacking forces to halt immediately their targeting of it.”
Mitiga has closed several times over the past four months because of a battle for Tripoli between GNA forces and fighters of military strongman General Khalifa Haftar.
Nearly 1,100 people have been killed since Haftar launched the offensive against the capital on April 4, according to the World Health Organization.