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nrc.nl - International - Features - Libyan authorities open up to Dutch investigators
Libyan authorities open up to Dutch investigators
Published: 14 May 2010 17:20 | Changed: 14 May 2010 17:35
The Libyan regime is trying hard to show its best side to Dutch investigators who have arrived on the scene of the air crash that killed 70 of their compatriots.
By Leonie van Nierop in Tripoli
The Tripoli air crash is remarkable for a number of reasons. Not because of the high toll in human lives it has taken, or because its cause still remains a mystery. These conditions tend to be the rule rather than the exception. What makes this crash special is the reverence curious visitors are treated to. In February of last year, Dutch authorities were quick to shield the site of a Turkish Airlines crash from prying eyes. But in Tripoli on Thursday, a Dutch delegation was allowed to wander amidst the debris unchecked for hours.
The backdrop was a barren plot of land in Libya. Dry brushwood dotted the peach coloured sand. In the distance, the runways of a cluttered airport could be made out. Birds chirped as the hot summer sun beat down on the desert. In the middle of it all were hundreds of thousands of pieces of debris, spread out in a ribbon stretching out over almost a kilometre. Amongst the parts of the destroyed aircraft lay crumpled jeans, an elegant pink shoe and a bikini, a language guide, a ragged stuffed animal and a wooden fork shaped like a giraffe.
Larger pieces of debris were easier to spot: the plane's tail, an engine, the cockpit and two charred wings. Other recognisable parts of the airplane included earplugs, chairs, a remote control, and a sheet with safety instructions. Add to that all the unrecognisable bits of twisted metal that, apparently, once made up an entire aircraft.
Cause remains a mystery
But to the naked eye the debris raises more questions than it answers. Who can explain why fire has raged in one part and not another? Or how two shoes of the same pair were thrown hundreds of metres apart? Nobody can. At least not yet. Why this plane disintegrated in mid-air shortly before landing remains a mystery. The question why one nine-year-old Dutch boy was the only one to survive can probably never be answered.
Libyan rescue workers had already carried the remains of the crash's 103 victims to two morgues on Wednesday. A day later, the crash site was still littered with latex gloves and mouth caps, but not a single drop of blood was anywhere to be found. Most personal items had been collected as well, to help identify the bodies.
On Thursday, not a single investigator was spotted anywhere near the wreckage. Only a few Libyan soldiers and police officers idly stood by in the shade. Perhaps the Libyan authorities hoped to cast themselves in a positive light by letting the press run free throughout the crash site. It was odd that Dutch journalists were eagerly granted access to Libya, a country generally reluctant to issue visa. A delegation of the Dutch foreign affairs department received a warm welcome upon arrival at a military airport, which looked as though it has only just been cleaned. The smell of air freshener was overwhelming. The floors were still wet.
Making nice with the Libyans
Daan Noort, in charge of the Dutch National Forensic Investigation Team, which hopes to identify victims of the crash, said his team was received "more warmly than anticipated" on Thursday night. He added the Libyans had also exceeded his expectations when it came to the manner in which they had recovered the victims' bodies. The Dutch safety board has also praised the openness of the Libyan team in charge of the investigation.
On Wednesday night, before leaving the Netherlands, the men in both delegations joked they were happy not to be Swiss. Ever since Geneva police arrested Hannibal Gaddafi, a son of the Libyan leader, on suspicion of assault in July of 2008, the Libyans have been livid at the alpine nation. Libya has taken a number of punitive measures against Switzerland since, including trade restrictions, and it has practically taken two Swiss bankers hostage. One Dutch forensic investigator recalled that the infamous Lockerbie trial against two Libyans, while tried in a Scottish court, took place on Dutch soil. Perhaps Tripoli had not yet forgotten about that.
According to top Dutch foreign affairs official Ed Kronenburg, Dutch relations with Tripoli are "currently normal". There is a Dutch embassy in Tripoli and Libya maintains a diplomatic post in The Hague, which was recently "upgraded" to an embassy. According to Kronenburg, Dutch representatives were welcomed into the country after the crash, but Libya was "not so keen" about the arrival of journalists. "It made the authorities a little nervous," he said. Kronenburg's advice: "Stick to the disaster. This is not the time to start a dialogue over human rights for the foreign affairs department either."
Still a dictatorship
Libya is, of course, still a dictatorship. The oil-rich nation has been ruled by colonel Muammar Gaddafi with an iron fist for 41 years. His portrait is everywhere. The Dutch delegation is also constantly surrounded by hordes of men sporting gilded framed glasses and black moustaches, who could be relaying all sorts of information to any secret service.
But the dictatorship is trying to show its good side now. On Thursday, school classes visited the Libyan hospital to drop off floral arrangements intended for the crash's sole survivor. In front of the entrance, a driver handed out cooled water to anyone interested. "How is that little boy doing?" he wondered out loud. At least, he was being treated in "the best hospital in northern Africa," the man said consolingly.
But the newsstands did not attest to a similar interest in the country. Of the 15 Arabic newspapers lining the stands, only one had a picture of the air disaster on its front page. The papers knew better than to discuss the failings of the airline company. But the boy saved in a Libyan hospital, the "Miracle of Tripoli," was splashed over many a front page in the Netherlands.