A British Royal Air Force C-130J military transport plane made a brief and unusual stopover in Benghazi, eastern Libya, Italian news agency Nova reported.
On Sunday evening, the Twitter account specialising in tracking aircraft and ships (air_intel), recorded the departure of flight RRR5995 from Benina Airport in Benghazi, towards the Cypriot airbase of Raf Akrotiri. It confirmed that British military flights to Libya usually go to Tripoli or Misrata in the west of the country, not Benghazi.
Nova added that from the flight log available on Flightradar 24, it appears that the British four-engine plane landed in eastern Libya at on Sunday, and took off again at the same day: just over 30 minutes on the ground.
On the same day, a Gulfstream G550 private jet, code GLF5, landed in Benghazi from Rome Ciampino Airport. It arrived on Wednesday, 3 May, coinciding with the arrival of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar in Italy.
In April, Barbara Woodward, the UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and President of the Security Council for the month of April, reiterated her continued support for the work of the UN Envoy to Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily.
During the UN Security Council’s meeting on Libya, the British diplomat said, “All Libyans, from social leaders to civil society, have an important role to play in Libya’s long-term efforts towards stability.”
Woodward stressed the need to “continue to work together constructively to support the Libyan people to address long-standing issues. It is only through coordinated efforts, with a leading role by the UN, can we help pave the way for elections and beyond, to ensure Libya achieves the stability and prosperity its people deserve.”
She pointed out that “it is vital to bind Libya’s power-brokers into an agreement that will enable the holding of elections as soon as feasible, without risking progress achieved on peace and stability to date.”
Woodward noted that UN mediation “should take place between those empowered to resolve key sticking points that have long delayed Libya’s progress toward long-term security.” She also praised the positive efforts being exerted by security actors to come together in support of delivering successful elections, adding that their initial commitments are “welcome and should be the foundation for more substantive political compromises that create the conditions for successful elections.”
