Article Outline
Good roads along the coast connect Tripoli with Tunis, and, through Banghāzī and Tobruk, with Alexandria; another road connects Sabha in the deep interior with the coastal roadway. In all, Libya has about 83,200 km (51,698 mi) of roads, of which 57 per cent are paved. In 1997 there were 159 passenger cars per 1,000 people. Plans are underway to construct a 2,300-km (1,435-mi) standard gauge line from the Tunisian frontier to Tripoli and Mişrātah, then inland to Sabha, which is in a mineral-rich area. Because of UN sanctions on international flights, Tunisia was the main transit point for air passengers from 1992 to 1999. Libyan Arab Airlines is the national carrier. Afriqiyah Airways, an enterprise between the Libyan government and an Italian airline, was launched in 2002. In addition to port facilities at Tripoli, Banghāzī, and Tobruk, a new port was opened in Mişrātah in 1978.
The postal and modern telecommunications systems of Libya are government owned and operated. Radio communications link the interior with the coastal regions. In 1997 it was estimated that about 1 million radios and 770,000 television sets were in use. Libya’s main daily newspaper is Al-Fajr al-Jadid, which is published, and has its main circulation, in Tripoli.
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Executive and Legislature
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Libya is governed under a constitution adopted in 1977 by the General People’s Congress (GPC), the national legislature established in 1976. Power is delegated to the head of state, or revolutionary leader; the five members of the General Secretariat of the GPC; and the 16 members of the General People’s Committee.
The Arab Socialist Union (ASU) is the only official political party in Libya; it has 112 members in the GPC. There are a number of dissident groups, including the Libyan Democratic Movement, which tend to be active in neighbouring countries.
Civil, criminal, and commercial justice in Libya follows the Egyptian model. In 1979 judicial power in Libya came under the authority of the People’s Committee for Justice. The Supreme Court consists of a chief justice and several associate judges. Courts of first instance, summary courts, and Courts of Appeal also function.
