The Libyan interim government has reopened a major highway connecting the country’s long-divided eastern and western cities, in the latest attempt to reunite the territories after years of civil war.
The announcement comes three days before an international conference on Libya, which will host Germany and the United Nations in Berlin.
“I am so pleased to be part of the opening of this essential lifeline that links the east of our country to its west,” Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah told a crowd gathered as bulldozers towed away rocks and dunes that blocked the road.
The coastal road has been closed since April 2019 after the East-based putschist general Khalifa Haftar launched a military offensive to abolish the capital Tripoli from the UN-recognized government. The resumption was a long-standing demand from the UN to enable the safe passage of civilians and goods.
In a symbolic gesture, Dbeibah drove a bulldozer and removed a sand barrier on the west side of the road, which he described as a traffic artery.
In one address, Dbeibah urged Libyans to brush up on divisions and join hands to achieve stability and rebuild the oil-rich country.
The road was closed for more than two years due to fighting between Libya’s rivals.
According to a news portal Libya Observer, however, a senior commander linked to the warlord Haftar denied that the road was reopened.
“No instructions have been received in this regard,” he was quoted as saying.
The US embassy in Libya praised the move and said in a tweet that it “paved the way for Libyans to have full control over their own affairs.”
Dbeibah was elected interim prime minister along with a presidential council of four members of Libyan delegates at a UN-sponsored conference in February. They are intended to harden the country ahead of nationwide elections late this year.
In March, the transitional government announced the resumption of flights between eastern Benghazi and western Misrata after a seven-year shutdown. Both cities have been important strongholds for Libya’s warring factions.
Libya has been embroiled in chaos since a NATO-backed uprising overthrew and later assassinated dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. Since then, the oil-rich country has long been divided between a UN-backed government in the capital Tripoli and rival authorities. based in the east of the country, each with the support of armed groups and foreign governments.
On Wednesday, an international conference on Libya will start in Berlin to discuss preparations for general elections and the withdrawal of foreign forces deployed to fight the opposing sides.
The resumption of traffic on the stretch that stretches along Libya’s Mediterranean coast comes amid tensions between temporary authorities and Haftar’s troops. On Saturday, Haftar’s militias announced the deployment of more troops in the largely lawless south and the closure of the western border with Algeria, saying it was to fight terrorism. In response, the Libyan Presidential Council issued a decree to send its own brigades to the south.
Jalel Harchaoui, a Libyan expert and senior colleague at the Global Initiative, said he saw the announcement as a positive influence ahead of the Berlin negotiations. He said Haftar wants his troops to continue to be seen as “a force to be reckoned with”, but that it is unlikely they could enforce such a closure.
Haftar does not have the ability to send forces to close Algeria’s borders. It’s just too far, too far away and beyond his ability, he said.
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