Libya

Misrata, Libya – After days of mourning, Libya is laying to rest its army chief, General Mohammed al-Haddad, and four other prominent military figures.

Al-Haddad, his senior adviser, Mohamed al-Essawi, and his military cameraman, Mohamed al-Mahjoub, were transported to their hometown in Misrata on Saturday evening for burial.

Also killed in the aircraft crash in central Turkiye on Tuesday were the commander of army land forces, General Fetouri Ghrebil, and the head of military manufacturing, Mahmoud al-Gedewi, whose remains were moved to their respective hometowns for burial.

The five were returning to the North African country from Ankara after meetings with Turkish defence officials, just a day after the Turkish parliament voted to extend the presence of its troops in Libya, as part of efforts to bolster military cooperation between Turkiye and the internationally recognised government in Tripoli.

Turkish authorities say preliminary investigations suggest a technical failure.

A Libyan military committee went to Ankara on Wednesday to help the investigation. A committee member told Al Jazeera that both countries agreed to transfer the aircraft’s flight recorder to a neutral country for a full investigation.

‘A dreadful scene’

After visiting the site of the crash, sources from the Libyan military committee told Al Jazeera it was a “dreadful scene”, with body parts scattered everywhere.

Identification was so difficult that authorities had to perform DNA testing on the body parts to identify which of the aircraft passengers they belonged to.

It was only after the long, painstaking process was completed that the bodies were finally repatriated to Libya.

A Turkish military ceremony was held in their honour early on Saturday morning, then the bodies were put on an aeroplane for the journey to Libya, but matters became complicated at that point.

The seemingly straightforward matter of holding ceremonies for the deceased became an issue as details like where they would be held were debated hotly in the fractured country.

Is General al-Haddad replaceable?

The Tripoli government is overseen by the Presidential Council, a three-member body that serves as the supreme commander of the military, according to the Libyan Political Agreement.

However, Libya’s rival authorities in the east, controlled by renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar, do not recognise them, despite the eastern-based parliament signing the agreement.

Al-Haddad was seen by some as a man of peace, well-respected by people across the country, even those he fought against.

He played a crucial role in the fight against Haftar during the latter’s military campaign on Tripoli in 2019, an assault that saw Haftar’s forces on the outskirts of Tripoli.

Under al-Haddad, government forces retook western Libya and forced Haftar back to the east, and al-Haddad helped pave the way for the national ceasefire agreement signed in 2020.

Haftar released a statement saying he was “deeply saddened” by al-Haddad’s death and expressed his condolences to his family.

In May, clashes broke out around Mitiga international airport between government forces and the Special Deterrent Force, a powerful armed group that reports to the Presidential Council and opposes the interim prime minister in Tripoli, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah.

Dbeibah gave the Special Deterrent Force (SDF) an ultimatum to hand over the airport, their prisons, and assimilate into the state security apparatus, or be targeted by the government.

With help and intervention by the Turkish government, a ceasefire was reached, and a truce committee, chaired by al-Haddad, was established by the Presidential Council and the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).

There is no doubt that finding a replacement for al-Haddad will not be an easy task. The Presidential Council appointed his deputy, General Salah al-Namroush, temporarily.

During his eulogy, al-Namroush “bid farewell to the men of the nation who carried the nation’s burdens and made discipline a way of life and leadership a responsibility”.

He said he would follow in the footsteps of al-Haddad, and pledged “to continue unifying the army”.

Although it will be difficult, political analyst Mohamed Mahfoudh told Al Jazeera: “Discussions are already under way; given the importance of the position, I expect a decision to be made within the next 10 days.”

Libya has seen widespread frustration and recent protests against the government over the economic situation, prompting officials to announce a plan to reshuffle the cabinet earlier this month.

The shuffle was scheduled to be announced on December 24, but al-Haddad’s death postponed that.

“Now, the chief of staff position will be entered into the cabinet reshuffle discussions. That means Haddad’s replacement could be a political decision to appease certain stakeholders, rather than someone who is qualified for the position.

“That’s a fear many of us have,” Mahfoudh said.

A tale of two airports

In an illustration of Libya’s split, the government in Tripoli had to receive the bodies of al-Haddad and other military officials at the city’s international airport, which was destroyed in fighting in 2014.

It is currently under renovation and now serves only government and emergency medical evacuation planes.

However, normally the bodies would have been received at Mitiga international airport, which is now Tripoli’s main commercial airport, but since it is under SDF control, PM Dbeibah could not be there.

He is not welcome.

So, Dbeibah, members of the Presidential Council, and senior government and military officials waited for the bodies at Tripoli international airport.

They were taken to an army base in southern Tripoli for a military ceremony in their honour, where Presidential Council head, Mohamed al-Menfi, declared “the promotion of each martyr to the next rank”, making al-Haddad a field marshal posthumously.

“Field Marshal Mohamed al-Haddad was a cornerstone to protecting the state and maintaining stability,” said Dbeibah at the ceremony.

He assured people that investigations into the crash “are continuing with full accuracy and credibility in coordination with Turkiye”.

Al-Haddad, al-Essawi, and al-Mahjoub’s bodies were flown to their hometowns in Misrata on Saturday evening.

On Sunday morning, people came from all over the country to lay them to rest.

Thousands of people gathered in the Misrata football stadium for a farewell prayer for the departed. Misrata city officials announced the day as an official holiday to give people time off to attend the funeral.

Abdullah Allafi, a tribal leader from al-Rajban in the Nafusa Mountains of western Libya, left home at 3am to drive hundreds of kilometres to pay his respects.

When asked about al-Haddad’s death, he said: “It’s a huge loss. Mohamed al-Haddad’s death is a loss for all of us and for Libya. He was a true patriot. May Allah rest his soul.

“Our presence here is a symbol of unity. Enough divisions, it’s time to come together and build a nation and a united military.”

Istanbul, Turkiye – Turkish authorities and Libyan officials are conducting an investigation into the crash of a private jet that killed Libya’s army chief, Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad, and seven other people near Ankara.

The probe, coordinated by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, is focusing on technical evidence, flight recordings, crew activity and aircraft maintenance, officials said. The French civil aviation investigations agency, BEA, has announced that it will participate in the probe.

General al-Haddad had been received in Ankara on Tuesday for talks with his Turkish counterpart, Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, and Defence Minister Yasar Guler.

According to officials, the French-made Dassault Falcon 50 took off from Ankara Esenboga Airport at 2:17pm on Tuesday, heading back to Libya, reported an electrical malfunction 16 minutes later and requested an emergency return.

Radar contact was lost shortly after at 2:41 pm (17:41 GMT) while the aircraft was descending towards the runway.

Officials said there was only a two-minute window between the emergency alarm and the crash.

The probe’s many factors

The forensic examination of the bodies of General al-Haddad and his military companions was completed early on Saturday and they have been repatriated to Libya after a ceremony in their honour at an airbase outside Ankara.

The site of Tuesday’s crash – near Kesikkavak village in Haymana district, roughly 70km (43 miles) south of Ankara – has been sealed off by Turkish security forces. All wreckage, including the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, or “black boxes”, has been secured and transported for analysis, according to authorities.

As part of the prosecutor-led investigation, specialists are examining air traffic control recordings, radar data and airport security camera footage.

Authorities have also requested communication logs between the pilots and the control tower and are reviewing the crew’s rest periods, medical history and records of meals or medication taken before the flight.

Maintenance logs and documentation related to the aircraft’s most recent checks are also under scrutiny to identify any possible technical lapses.

Fuel samples have been taken from both the wreckage and airport tanks to rule out contamination or incorrect fuel use, while local weather data from the time of the crash has been requested.

If evidence points to a structural failure or design flaw, investigators said, the inquiry could be expanded to include manufacturers and maintenance contractors.

International rules and reporting timeline

Gursel Tokmakoglu, former head of the Turkish air force’s intelligence agency, said the crash should be viewed as an international case, given the number of actors involved.

“The Libyan government chartered an aircraft from a foreign country. The aircraft was manufactured in another country. The pilots were from elsewhere. The passengers were Libyan, and the crash happened in Turkiye,” he said.

“If you also consider insurance companies and international aviation bodies, this is clearly a multinational incident.”

Earlier, Turkish Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu had announced that the black boxes may be sent to another country for further analysis, raising some questions about why analysis could not be done in either Turkiye or Libya.

Tokmakoglu said Turkiye could either examine the black boxes domestically or send them abroad for further analysis.

“Transferring the recorders can help ensure greater transparency and a clearer understanding of what happened, especially in a case involving so many international stakeholders,” he said.

Tokmakoglu noted that according to preliminary findings, the aircraft transmitted the 7700 emergency “squawk” code, which indicates an emergency that requires immediate attention, and the crew reported an electrical malfunction.

However, he added, it would be premature to assume that the electrical malfunction was the cause of the aircraft’s crash.

“In aviation, an electrical failure can trigger other problems,” he said, likening such a situation to “being admitted to intensive care for heart failure but dying later from a lung infection”.

Aviation industry analyst Guntay Simsek told Al Jazeera, citing his own sources, that there are no indications so far that the crash was caused by an external factor such as an explosion, adding that the technical investigation remains ongoing.

The probe starting immediately is within general best practices after a crash, aviation industry analyst Guntay Simsek said, pointing to ICAO regulations that govern aircraft accident investigations, which require a preliminary report within 30 days and a final report within 12 months.

DNA testing delays funeral plans as investigators examine the wreckage of jet crash that killed Libyan army chief.

Officials from Libya and Turkiye have stepped up coordination over the investigation into a plane crash near Ankara that killed Libya’s army chief and seven other people as forensic work and preparations for repatriating the bodies are conducted.

Libya’s Criminal Investigation Department chief, Major General Mahmoud Ashour, led a delegation to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on Thursday as part of the joint inquiry.

The visit followed discussions with Turkish prosecutors overseeing the case.

On Tuesday, a private jet carrying Libya’s army chief of staff, Mohammed Ali Ahmed Al-Haddad, reported an electrical malfunction shortly after taking off from Ankara Esenboga Airport.

According to Turkiye’s head of communications, Burhanettin Duran, the aircraft, bound for Tripoli, requested an emergency landing 16 minutes after takeoff.

Air traffic controllers redirected the Dassault Falcon 50 back towards Ankara’s airport, but radar contact was lost three minutes later as the jet descended.

The wreckage was found near the village of Kesikkavak in Ankara’s Haymana district. Eight people, including three crew members, were killed.

Search and rescue teams reached the site after Turkiye’s Ministry of Interior launched emergency operations while multiple authorities joined the investigation into the cause of the crash.

Funeral prayers delayed

Reporting from Misrata, Libya, Al Jazeera’s Malik Traina said preparations were under way for the return of Al-Haddad’s body although the timeline remains uncertain.

“Earlier today, we spoke to the minister of communications, and we were told the funeral prayer will be held tomorrow. That’s starting to change, now they’ve been receiving phone calls from government officials saying that it could likely be postponed till Saturday,” Traina said on Thursday.

Traina said the recovery process has taken longer due to the severity of the crash, which scattered remains across a wide area and necessitated DNA testing.

“There’s a lot of pressure for that process to finish as soon as possible. Whether or not that’ll happen, we’re gonna have to wait and see.

“He really was someone who tried to build up the military institutions, especially in western Libya, a place that is divided with powerful armed groups and militias controlling vast areas of land.”

Barin Kayaoglu, of the Social Sciences University of Ankara, says that a Libyan general’s plane crash in Turkiye is unlikely to impact the broader framework of Turkiye’s role in Libya.