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The Tunisian army has defused the bombs carried by a Libyan warplane that made an emergency landing in Tunisia the day before, the defense ministry said Tuesday.
The aircraft belonged to the forces of Commander Khalifa Haftar, who controls eastern Libya and much of the south of the country.
The so-called Libyan national army of Haftar launched an offensive in April to try to seize Tripoli from the government's national agreement recognized by the UN.
The plane landed urgently after having "suffered a technical problem," according to a statement from a parallel administration based in eastern Libya, backed by Haftar.
An AFP photographer at the scene on Monday had said that the plane was carrying two bombs.
The Ministry of Defense announced that the plane had been taken away from its landing site near the city of Medenine, about 100 kilometers from the Libyan border, to a Tunisian storage center.
The pilot of the warplane, a colonel who was the only person on board according to the ministry, is questioned by Tunisian security forces.
The GNA Foreign Ministry announced Monday on Facebook that a "Liaison Committee" had been set up by its embbady in Tunis to discuss the fate of the plane.
The rival administration of eastern Libya has meanwhile been in contact with Tunis to ensure the safe return of the plane and its pilot.
"The question of the entity to which this plane should be delivered will be at the center of the issue of restitution," said Haykel Ben Mahfoudh, an expert in international law.
"Tunisia, if it has maintained a neutral position vis-à-vis the conflict in Libya, is particularly keen to respect the status of GNA recognized by international institutions," he added.
According to the World Health Organization, more than 1,000 people have been killed since Haftar launched his offensive in Tripoli, while more than 100,000 people were displaced by the violence.
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