Libya PM plans to establish funds for reconstruction

By Mohammad Erteima

TRIPOLI, Libya (AA) – The Libyan government plans to establish funds to rebuild cities and areas damaged by the country’s civil war, Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh said.

Dbeibeh’s remarks came during a cabinet meeting in the capital Tripoli.

“The government will establish funds for rebuilding cities damaged by the war such as Benghazi, Tripoli and Sirte,” he said, without giving further details.

There are no official estimates of the cost of the reconstruction projects needed in Libya. However, Mohammad Raied, the head of Libya's General Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, estimated the cost of these projects at around $50 billion.

On Feb. 5, Libya's rival political groups agreed during UN-mediated talks in Geneva to form an interim government to lead the country to elections this December. Libyan delegates elected Mohammad Menfi to head a three-member Presidential Council and Dbeibeh as the new prime minister.

Libyans hope the government will end years of civil war that have engulfed the country since the ouster and killing of strongman Muammar al-Qaddafi in 2011.

*Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara