A Libyan militia said today that that is has reached a ceasefire agreement with a rival militia to end the battle over the Tripoli International Airport. According to this ‘agreement,’ both sides have pledged to quit the airport and hand it over to a committee tasked by Prime Minister Abdullah al Thani. The rival militia has not confirmed that the agreement exists.

The news comes as the main airport at the Libya capital was hit by a number of artillery shells on Thursday, with reporters on the ground confirming that the main terminal building was hit.

The airport has been held by a militia from the city of Zintan ever since the toppling of dictator Muammar Ghaddafi but it came under attack five days ago from another militia, which is is understood to be allied to government forces.

On Sunday, a number of rockets hit the airport, damaging a number of aircraft, buildings and fuel trucks. The Libyan interim government announced that the airport was closed and several airlines, including Air Malta, cancelled all flights to the Libyan capital. The situation remains chaotic, but some reports said that the Libyan airspace has since been opened an flights are operating from Mitiga and Misurata airports.

The Malta Independent revealed this week that Virtu Ferries and Medavia have assets on stand-by and will sent them to Libya if the need for evacuation arises. But Foreign Minister George Vella said this week that that time has not come yet.

Dr Vella said that, until Wednesday, the government had managed to contact 156 Maltese in Libya, while another 40 could not be reached. 63 others who were on a Ministry list had since left the country. Five others crossed the border with Tunisia

Meanwhile, Maltese citizens who live in Tripoli have told this newsroom that most of the fighting was concentrated in and around the airport, and the rest of the city is relatively quiet.

Air traffic controllers have, however, gone on strike in protest at the airport attacks. This could further delay the re-opening of the airport. The Misurata airport, which had opened on Wednesday, has to close down again because of the strike.

In other developments today, a female MP was shot dead in the city of Derna.