Closed Highway and Dangerous Desert Detour Underline Challenges to Libyan Peace

Closed Highway and Dangerous Desert Detour Underline Challenges to Libyan Peace
A member of security forces stands behind a weapon, in Tripoli, Libya Feb. 1, 2021. REUTERS/Ayman Al-Sahili
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TRIPOLI—Libyans watching a peace process nearing a critical phase this week in Switzerland need only try driving from one side of their country to the other to understand the obstacles to diplomacy.

An October ceasefire called for all foreign mercenaries to leave the country and for the main coastal road between west and east to reopen. But the mercenaries remain, the United Nations said last week, and the road is shut.