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‘Libya kicked me out for asking how my husband died in air crash’
Karen Attwood16.09.09
The wife of a London oil worker killed in a mysterious plane crash in Libya accused the British Government today of abandoning her family as she was “kicked out” of Tripoli.
Felicity Prazak, 54, moved from Battersea to the Libyan capital last summer to get answers from the authorities about the crash which killed her husband, Victor, when he was flying home for Christmas on 22 December in 1992.
Last night Mrs Prazak was sacked from her job as an arts teacher at the International School in Tripoli and given two days to leave the country.
She believes she is the victim of “a witch hunt” and the sacking was because she asked too many questions about her husband's death.
It comes as speculation surrounding the Government's “sweeteners” to Libya intensified following the furore over the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi.
The Standard revealed that Libyan doctors will be trained by the NHS in a deal agreed by a Cabinet minister with Colonel Gaddafi's regime weeks ago.
“They have shown compassion to al-Megrahi so why can't Gaddafi show compassion for my family?” Mrs Prazak said. The family believes that the Government is more interested in fostering trade ties than finding out the truth of what caused the crash.
Mrs Prazak, who previously had to battle for answers amid a freeze in UK-Libyan relations following the murder of Pc Yvonne Fletcher and the Lockerbie bombing, said she intended to stay in the country and fight her sacking.
The headmaster of the school, Graeme Pollock, said today that the sacking was related to Mrs Prazak's teaching. “It's about an individual performance,” he said.
Mrs Prazak's son, Theo, 21, who was four at the time of the crash, today spoke for the first time about the family's anguish.
He said: “They have kept us in the dark for 17 years. It is heartbreaking. To find out your dad died when he was on his way home for Christmas and then they just try to cover it up.”
Theo said they would like to receive proper compensation from Libya and wants his father's remains to be repatriated. Mr Prazak is buried in a mass grave south of Tripoli. Theo and his sister Tallena, 20, who live in Battersea, were only able to visit the grave seven years after their father's death.
The Foreign Office said as the UK did not have diplomatic relations with Libya at the time of the crash it was unable to provide the full range of consular services after Mr Prazak's death.
“We have raised the case many times with the Libyan authorities over the years and continue to do so in 2009,” a spokesman said. “The FCO categorically refute any allegation that it has been reluctant to assist.”
Reader views (6)
she was my art teacher in international school tripoli she was a very hard teacher but now i undrstand why and i feel sorry for her
- Ellen, Tripoli, tripoli libya
What on earth did she expect, Libya is hardly the democratic centre of the universe is it? Most people would have considered that prior to living there.
- Bob, Cheam
Frank, you're missing the whole point of the story, it's Islamaphobics who will keep the hostility fires burning.
I do hope Mrs Prazack finds the answers to her tragic story.
- Zack, Poole, Dorset
If you are a little person poking around into government affairs, don't expect any answers. Maybe if you make a few million in political contributions, they'd tell you what really happened.
- Len Gregg, Woking UK
I have every sympathy for this lady. Hundreds of oil workers have discovered the limits of Arab justice. Have a dispute with your employer and you are immediately fired. In theory you can appeal but this takes a long time and in the meantime you have to live in an expensive hotel as you have lost the accommodation that was provided by the former employer. There were quite a number of British people in Jeddah jail when I lived there. Fortunately for them they were released when the Queen visited as a "Goodwill) gesture. Islamists living here have no idea how lucky they are.
- Fred, Horsham
What were you doing in Libya in the first place?
Goto or work in a Muslim country and you are on your own.
Islam and human right are diametrically opposed.
- Frank, Home Counties, England.
