No Arabic passport, no entry into Libya

The Libyan government abruptly denied entry to tourists without an Arabic translation of their passports, forcing several planeloads of foreigners to turn back on arrival and stranding at least two French tour groups on the night of Monday 12th November.

The change, which was not officially announced, makes Libya the only country in the Middle East to currently demand Arabic translations for foreign passports.
Eighteen French nationals were stranded at Tripoli International Airport since Sunday night, until France's ambassador to Libya intervened Monday and they were allowed to return home, French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Pascale Andreani said. Another group of 83 was expected to be allowed to leave later Monday.

The development reflects confusion in government policies, amid recent strides by Libya to promote itself as a lucrative tourist destination and to inch closer to a long-sought political goal of getting back into the West's good graces after years of ostracism.

Airlines whose planes were turned back included Swiss, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and British Airways. Jean-Claude Donzel, a spokesman for Swiss, an airline owned by Lufthansa, told The Associated Press the airline's office in Libya was caught unaware of the new rules, which came into force just hours before one of its planes landed Sunday. The flight returned to Zurich.

"The government has been pushing to promote its thousands of miles of pristine Mediterranean coastline, sweeping desert sand dunes and ancient ruins as a travel destination. COURTESY YAHOO NEWS

This is retroactive, in this day and age? But the final conclusion is that a visa does not entitle one to enter into a country. All of us planning holidays in Libya , please take note.