Sources confirmed to Alwasat on Saturday evening the restart of the security system at Misrata International Airport after it was suspended due to a dispute between security services, against the background of gold smuggling accusations through the airport.

The sources said that the Joint Operations Force, which was accused of involvement in gold smuggling, expelled members of the Internal Security Agency, causing the security system to be suspended.

The sources added "We expect the return of flights tonight or tomorrow morning", confirming an agreement on the return of members of the Internal Security Service.

On Saturday, officials at Misrata airport customs held a press conference during which they denied the smuggling of gold through the airport.

Colonel Fathi Makhlouf said that the export of gold is carried out in accordance with legal controls, through a documentary cycle, as a financial guarantee is imposed on the value of the exported gold until it is re-imported.

The Joint Operations Force is tasked with supervising sea and air ports, Makhlouf said, stressing that members of the force are assigned to supervise the export of gold and silver, prepare statistics in particular and refer them to the Misrata Customs Directorate.

He spoke of the readiness to file a criminal case against social media pages regarding the accusations against members of the Misrata International Customs Center and members of the Joint Operations Force "in the smear and defamation campaigns against them."