On Sunday, Libyan Prime Minister Abdel Hamid Dabaiba announced the recovery of the presidential plane, A340, after a 7-year “detention” in France under the pretext of “maintenance work.”
This came in a press conference held by Dabaiba at Maitika International Airport in the capital, Tripoli.
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Dabaiba said: “Today our plane returns to us, and we are happy, stable, and safe in our homes and our homelands.”
He added: “This is the plane of the Libyan people, a presidential plane that has been absent from us since 2014, and it was forcibly seized.”
Dabaiba explained that “this plane is very important for Libyan sovereignty, and at the same time for its historical value.”
He added that the plane was in France under the pretext of “technical and financial measures, and we worked to return it due to its importance.”
He considered that the return of the plane “is a positive step that indicates Libya’s stability and security, the return of its sovereignty and the return of its wealth.”
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Regarding the number of aircraft seized outside Libya, Dabaiba said that there are “12 used aircraft that are being used in lands outside Libya under the pretext of maintenance.”
He added: “There are some planes that have been seized and they are bargaining with us about them. All planes will return to our country.”
Dabaiba explained that two warplanes are being held outside Libya, without revealing their whereabouts.
Prior to 2011, former Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi (1969-2011) was flying the A340 on his flights.
It is a presidential aircraft equipped with the latest technology and amenities and was sent in 2014 to France for maintenance.
