UN envoy calls for a ‘unified mechanism’ to lead reconstruction of Libya’s flood-wrecked city

By SAMY MAGDY
Associated Press

CAIRO (AP) — The United Nations’ top official in divided Libya has called for a unified mechanism to lead the reconstruction a coastal city that was wrecked by devastating floods last month. U.N. Special Envoy for Libya Abdoulaye Bathily says in a statement Monday that such a mechanism is required amid “unilateral and competing initiatives” by Libyan actors and institutions on the reconstruction of the Mediterranean city of Derna and other floods-impacted areas. Devastating rainfall and floods, triggered by Mediterranean Storm Danial, hit parts of eastern Libya last month. The floods overwhelmed two depleted dams outside Derna on Sep. 11, causing massive waters that washed away residential buildings to the sea and inundated as much as a quarter of the city.