Libyan officials were searching people leaving the country to make sure they did not have images or footage of the turmoil, passengers on an Air flight from Tripoli said yesterday.
“There were some road blocks on the way to the airport to see what we were carrying and other people were checking what we had in our camera,” Joe Bugeja said on his return.
Mr Bugeja was based an hour away from Tripoli airport.
A Libyan passenger pointed out that Arab-looking people were being targeted the most. He said he was assaulted by a policeman at the airport who shouted abuse at him for wanting to leave his country.
“He bit me on my face. I know he’s a policeman but he cannot bite me on my face,” the man, married to a Maltese woman, said. He claimed to have witnessed many atrocities during protests. He said he had clips of the incidents back home but did not dare carry them with him for fear of the searching police. “The government is killing people like animals. Next to my house they got three people, pushed them forward and shot them in the head,” he said.
Initial demonstrations in Benghazi were peaceful, he said, but were met with violence.
“I saw with my own eyes anti-aircraft guns being used to shoot at protesters,” he said, adding African people were being hired to shoot Libyans.The worst hit cities were Tripoli and Benghazi, he said, and the final battle would be in the capitol, where Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was surrounded by his army. Others painted a totally different picture.
Chris Fenech said he never felt threatened but was worried. If he were guaranteed the situation in Tripoli would remain the same as it was when he left he would have remained and was ready to return to work after the weekend if things did not degenerate.
“We just needed to get out for a couple of days until things calm down,” he said, adding that “from the inside, you do not hear much and what is said on TV may be out of proportion”.
Based about 10 kilometres outside Tripoli, Mr Fenech said the odd gunshot could be heard but it could also have been friendly fire for the celebrations that were under way. Still, it was no fun for those who were not used to it, he said, admitting it made him edgy.
Mr Fenech was aware that on the other side of Tripoli, only about 20 minutes away, there had been violent clashes but he had not experienced them and was advised to stay indoors at night.
Air Malta’s 8 p.m. flight from Tripoli was cancelled yesterday but Mr Fenech, who arrived at the “understandably chaotic” airport at 3 p.m., managed to get onto the delayed midday flight. The cancelled flight is expected to take place at some point this morning.