Libya: Pilots at the ready with 15 fighter planes

Published on Sunday 27 February 2011 17:26

At THE Benghazi military airbase that once belonged to Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi, air force pilots now wipe their feet on his portrait as they enter.

The base is well and truly in the hands of the anti-Gaddafi rebels. In the few days since they gained control of the city, the movement has organised itself into system of powerful committees to which even the military forces defer.

"The army is not able to act well with no command system," says professor Idris el-Sharif, chairman of the committee dealing with the military.

Lines of battered, but functioning, anti-aircraft guns stand ready at the airbase. On the airfield sits a Mil Mi-24 Hind; a Russian attack helicopter. Along its sides are loaded rockets and machine guns.

"We have one transport plane that can land almost anywhere, and 15 fighter planes," says Prof Sharif. The possibility of using these to attack Tripoli is a reality. "Now we are watching. If he starts killing a lot of people and it looks like our forces in Tripoli are retreating, we will use them to support them and give them strength."

The committee also has the pilots to fly the planes. Nine pilots from the military airport of Sirte, Col Gaddafi's home town, were ordered by him to attack Benghazi, says Prof Sharif. "The pilots decided to destroy their planes rather than do this. Instead, they escaped to the desert. We sent people to collect them. They are now ready to attack any place for us."

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