Libya PM says key coastal road reopened ahead of peace talks

The head of Libya’s unity government said he has reopened the main coastal road across the frozen front line, a gesture of progress in the fragile peace process, but eastern forces said the road remained closed.

Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh’s move on Sunday to reopen the road is in line with a ceasefire deal agreed last year as part of efforts to resolve Libya’s decade of chaos and violence.

Dbeibeh said on Sunday that reopening the coastal road connecting Misrata in western Libya and the Mediterranean city of Sirte marks a “new step” towards re-establishing stability and unity in the North African country.

“I am so delighted to participate in the opening of this essential lifeline linking the east of our country to its west,” Dbeibeh told a crowd that gathered as bulldozers were towing away rocks and sand dunes blocking the road.