Daijiworld Media Network - Ankara

Ankara, Dec 27: Turkey on Saturday held a military funeral ceremony for five Libyan officers, including western Libya’s top military commander, who were killed in a plane crash earlier this week near Ankara.

The private jet carrying Gen Muhammad Ali Ahmad al-Haddad, four other Libyan military officers and three crew members crashed shortly after taking off from Ankara on Tuesday, killing all on board. Libyan officials said a technical malfunction caused the crash.

Gen al-Haddad was the chief of staff of western Libya’s forces and played a key role in UN-brokered efforts to unify the country’s divided military. The delegation was returning to Tripoli after defence talks in Ankara aimed at strengthening military cooperation between Turkey and Libya.

The funeral ceremony was held at the Murted Airfield base near Ankara and was attended by Turkey’s military chief and defence minister. The coffins, draped in Libyan national flags, were later flown to Libya. Turkish military chief Selcuk Bayraktaroglu accompanied the remains to Tripoli, according to state-run TRT.

The bodies had been kept at the Ankara Forensic Medicine Institute for identification. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said DNA samples were matched with family members who arrived from Libya after the crash. He added that Germany has been requested to assist in examining the aircraft’s black boxes as an independent third party.

Libya has remained divided since the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi, with rival administrations in the east and west backed by various militias and foreign powers. Turkey has been a key supporter of the western-based government, while recently also seeking to improve ties with authorities in eastern Libya.