tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351904589099176534.post1940630589962287514..comments2023-10-25T05:21:38.824-07:00Comments on The Lockerbie Divide: Terrorists 1 and 2! Ah, I see you’ve met!Caustic Logichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03082923821952309709noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351904589099176534.post-74339459255328491202011-03-24T00:11:28.996-07:002011-03-24T00:11:28.996-07:00Informed contemporary discussion on this page
http...Informed contemporary discussion on this page<br />http://www.boingboing.net/2011/02/21/mystery-behind-two-l.html<br /><br />F.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351904589099176534.post-70547022926227881982011-03-23T23:59:50.347-07:002011-03-23T23:59:50.347-07:00PS.
The timing was interesting. Just before the je...PS.<br />The timing was interesting. Just before the jets (with apparently 4 personnel on board) 2 French (!) helicopters arrived..<br />"VALLETTA - Two Libyan fighter jets with four military personnel on board who said they had escaped Benghazi air base after it was taken over by protesters landed in Malta on Feb. 21, military sources told AFP.<br /><br />Two civilian helicopters also landed on the Mediterranean island around the same time, carrying seven people who said they were French nationals working on oil rigs near Benghazi, although only one had a passport, the sources said.<br /><br />Related Topics<br />Middle East & Africa <br />The helicopters were given permission to land in Malta but had not been given clearance to leave Libya, indicating that they had escaped, they added.<br /><br />The fighter jet personnel requested fuel for their aircraft.<br /><br />All those who have landed are being held at the airport in Malta until their identities are confirmed."<br />(Defense News, Texas) <br /><br />"The government sources said the helicopters left Libya without authorization by the Libyan aviation authorities and that only one of the seven passengers -- who say they are French citizens -- had a passport.<br /><br />A French Foreign Ministry spokesman could not immediately confirm the information as it was still being verified."<br />(Reuters)<br />"The pilots - both colonels operating from Okba Bin Nafe, a base near the Libyan capital Tripoli"<br />(EPA/Karl Azzopardi)<br /><br />The helicopters "reportedly carrying BP Oil company personnel" ( registered F-GYSH and F-GHOY) of Heli Union. Each craft is an Aerospatiale SuperPuma AS 332 with capacity of 19. Those are big choppers.<br /><br />"Two French registered Super Pumas have arrived in Malta, apparently “escaping” the crisis in Libya where they have been based at Tripoli International Airport since July 2005." (Helihub)<br /><br />F.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351904589099176534.post-47627687366193675992011-03-23T20:02:10.581-07:002011-03-23T20:02:10.581-07:00The Voice of Russia and others(22 Feb) said that t...The Voice of Russia and others(22 Feb) said that the pilots had sought asylum in Malta. <br />Interestingly , Al Jazeera by about 21 Feb was reporting on planes bombing Tripoli yet no evidence was ever shown, just a burnt out building without structural damage (perhaps by demonstrators)<br />The Maltese response is curious. Obviously everybody knows the identities of the pilots - the Libyans, the Maltese, NATO, etc etc. Anonymity will thus not protect their families. That is a nonsensical argument. The Maltese clearly did not want more defections and asylum applications. Well, the No Fly Zone has put a stop to that, so I guess it is a case of holding them until the certainty of eventual regime change,then deporatation. <br />In the words of the Maltese Refugees Commissioner again... “I can’t even comment about whether the pilots have applied for asylum or not." (Times of Malta 10 March 2011) On 24 Feb, Reuters reported that only one pilot had asked for asylum. Since 10 March, silence.<br /> And the plane shot down on 19 March was a rebel operated one, the date of military intervention..<br /><br />F.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351904589099176534.post-4667362161384111352011-03-23T02:14:48.685-07:002011-03-23T02:14:48.685-07:00Most definitely. If I recall correctly, it was tha...Most definitely. If I recall correctly, it was that incident that started the discussion about a no-fly zone that's led to the s***storm we're currently in. They had a rather illogical but media-Gaddafi compatible order to bomb, or strafe, slow moving crowds of peaceful protesters with expensive, fast-moving fighter jets. <br /><br />More likely, one of the defectors ran an air force wing and sent two of his pilots to Malta with this story. Suddenly to the world, it was a <b>known fact</b> that Saddam, er Muammar, was "bombing his own people," or at least trying to do so. <br /><br />And the mystery jet that crashed over Bengahzi, complete with the seige and invasion of the enemy also reported as 20 or 30 km away... very strange. That gave the final push for the "no fly zone" aka one-sided cease fire demand to finally kick in. <br /><br />But on the former, the Maltese are pretty upstanding in this issue, as far as Europeans go. But they wouldn't dare push or probe for the truth of that defection and alleged order. I fear it'll remain another one of those incidents that seems wrong but has no proof that it is. <br /><br />Unlike the al-Baida massacre ...Caustic Logichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03082923821952309709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351904589099176534.post-26794313068426753982011-03-22T16:40:40.250-07:002011-03-22T16:40:40.250-07:00Did you ever think the defection of those two Liby...Did you ever think the defection of those two Libyan Air Force planes to Malta very early on was a bit odd? <br />Almost silence since. This is what the Maltese Refugee Commissioner said a few weeks ago...<br />"It’s very, very confidential... I think it’s very important (that I do not comment) both for their own good and, especially, for the good of their families back in Libya.”<br />F.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com