Tripoli, Libya – The Speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives, Counselor Aguila Saleh, offered his sincere condolences on the death of Lieutenant General Mohammed al-Haddad, Chief of Staff of the Government of National Accord (GNA). He also offered his condolences to Lieutenant General al-Fitouri Ghraibil, Chief of Staff of the Ground Forces and member of the Joint Military Commission (5+5), who perished along with several of their colleagues in a plane crash while returning from Turkey.
Official mourning declaration
In a national response to this tragic loss, the government appointed by parliament, headed by Osama Hammad, declared three days of national mourning. The decision also included lowering flags to half-staff at all government institutions and departments, in tribute to the members of the armed forces who perished in this heartbreaking incident.
Details of the tragic incident
The head of the interim Government of National Unity, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, mourned the death of General Haddad and his companions on Tuesday evening. He explained that the private plane carrying them from Ankara to Tripoli crashed after an official visit to Turkey.
According to Turkish authorities, the sequence of events was as follows:
Loss of contact: Communication with the aircraft was lost minutes after it took off from Esenboğa Airport in Ankara.
Distress call: Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya reported that the plane had announced its intention to make an emergency landing in the Haymana district near Ankara. Contact was then completely lost.
Technical malfunction: The head of the Turkish Presidency’s Communications Directorate, Burhanettin Duran, confirmed that initial investigations indicated the plane requested an emergency landing. This was due to a sudden electrical failure that led to its crash.
official investigations
On the procedural level, Dbeibah announced the dispatch of an official delegation to the Turkish capital, Ankara, to closely monitor the circumstances of the incident and coordinate directly with the relevant Turkish authorities to ensure the completion of the necessary technical and legal investigations.
