Cyprus: U.N. checks plane suspected of Libya embargo breach

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS
Associated Press

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A Cyprus Civil Aviation official says United Nations inspectors have completed their examination of a small aircraft kept in storage on the east Mediterranean island nation, which was reportedly suspected of busting a U.N. arms embargo on Libya. Civil Aviation Chief Operations Officer Charis Antoniades told the AP on Friday that the U.N. officials finished their inspection of the single-engine propeller Thrush 550 aircraft over a single day on Oct. 12. Local media reports suggested that the aircraft had either taken part in combat operations in Libya, or was used to run guns in violation of an arms embargo that the U.N. Security Council imposed on the country in 2011 when a NATO-backed uprising toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi.