Italy agrees to lift ban on flights from conflict-stricken Libya, officials say

CAIRO (AP) — Commercial flights between Italy and conflict-torn Libya will resume in September after the Italian government agreed to lift a 10-year-long ban on civil aviation in the North African nation, one of Libya’s rival governments said Sunday.

Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah, prime minister of the Tripoli-based government, said on Twitter that the Italian government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni informed his government of the decision.

He called the removal of the ban a “breakthrough.”

The decision came after Libyan and Italian aviation officials met Sunday in the Libyan capital of Tripoli to discuss “the upcoming restoration of direct flights and the strengthening of cooperation" between the two countries, according to a statement from the Italian Embassy in Libya.

Oil-rich Libya plunged into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. In the disarray that followed, the country split into rival administrations in the east and west, each backed by rogue militias and foreign governments.

Italy and other European countries banned Libyan flights from their airspace as the country descended into chaos.

Over the past decade, Libya has had direct flights to limited destinations, including cities in neighboring Egypt and Tunisia, and other Middle Eastern countries, such as Jordan.

A Libyan government statement said the two countries have agreed that one airliner from each country would operate flights starting in September. They did not name the destination cities.