Libyan Interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah (C), delivers a speech on June 20, 2021, in the town of Buwairat al-Hassoun, during a ceremony to mark the reopening of 300-kilometre road between the cities of Misrata and Sirte. (Photo by Mahmud TURKIA / AFP)
Libya’s unity government on Sunday reopened the coastal highway linking the country’s east and west, closed for two years due to fighting.
Announcing the implementation of another key step in a UN-led peace process, Interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah said the move would help to “turn a page” after a decade of conflict.
The highway connects the war-torn North African country’s border with Tunisia to its frontier with Egypt.
A 300-kilometre stretch between the cities of Misrata and Sirte was cut off in 2019 as eastern-based military strongman Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive to seize Tripoli.
On Sunday, Dbeibah, who took office in March to lead the country to elections in December, was joined by members of his administration in the town of Buwairat al-Hassoun for a ceremony to reopen the road.
The interim premier got behind the wheel of an excavator to shift sand on the western side of the road, which is still blocked in areas controlled by Haftar’s forces.
“The opening of the coastal road is significant and comes as the international community prepares to meet in Berlin,” the US embassy in Tripoli tweeted.
The reopening of the highway was at the heart of talks between a committee of military figures from the rival camps.
The other key issues discussed by the so-called 5+5 committee are the reunification of Libya’s armed forces and the withdrawal of foreign troops and mercenaries.
But the presence of foreign fighters and mercenaries, estimated by the UN at 20,000, is widely perceived as a threat to the transition.
AFP