Libya’s Global Air scheduled a Tripoli-Benghazi flight for Tuesday afternoon, signalling resumption of domestic air travel after the country’s political crisis had closed airspace for more than two weeks.
The United Nations had urged the reopening of Libya’s skies in line with a 2020 ceasefire between the main warring factions to allow unhindered travel within the country.
Libya’s political crisis has escalated since the collapse of a scheduled election in December that was planned as part of a peace process to reunify the country after years of chaos and war following a 2011 NATO-backed uprising.
The parliament declared the interim unity government that was meant to oversee the run-up to elections as expired, and appointed Fathi Bashagha as the new prime minister this month.
The unity government’s prime minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah has refused to cede power, however, and armed factions supporting each side have mobilised in and around the capital.
The United Nations is seeking to resolve the crisis by pushing for new elections soon and has asked political bodies to join a committee to resolve constitutional and legal disputes that helped torpedo December’s planned vote.
via Reuters
