Libya reopens gas plant closed after militia clash

Tripoli (dpa) - A Libyan gas complex resumed operations Sunday, a day after it was shut down when two militias clashed over which group should guard it, a military official said.

"Work at the Mellitah Company for pumping gas and oil resumed today," said Khaled al-Sherif, Defence Ministry undersecretary.

He also noted that traffic along the coastal road to Tunisia was back to normal after being disrupted by the "sorrowful incidents."

The clashing militias withdrew after they reached agreement on a ceasefire, said al-Sherif. The army has been temporarily assigned to guard the Libyan-Italian venture in Mellitah, some 60 kilometres west of Tripoli, according to reports.

Earlier on Sunday, the state-run National Oil Cooperation said that Italy-bound exports from the Mellitah complex had been temporarily suspended.

Libya has seen a proliferation of arms following the overthrow of Moamer Gaddafi in an armed uprising in 2011.

The North African country‘s new rulers have recently ordered that illegal militias be disbanded and have launched a disarmament drive in an effort to re-establish security. dpa str raf ncs