Jewel of Roman Empire Lies Neglected in Libya Chaos

One of the few visitors to the ancient Roman city of Leptis Magna in Libya looks at the Arch of Septimius Severus. Mahmud TURKIA AFP
One of the few visitors to the ancient Roman city of Leptis Magna in Libya looks at the Arch of Septimius Severus. Mahmud TURKIA AFP
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Jewel of Roman Empire Lies Neglected in Libya Chaos

One of the few visitors to the ancient Roman city of Leptis Magna in Libya looks at the Arch of Septimius Severus. Mahmud TURKIA AFP
One of the few visitors to the ancient Roman city of Leptis Magna in Libya looks at the Arch of Septimius Severus. Mahmud TURKIA AFP

Once among the Roman Empire's most beautiful cities, Leptis Magna lies neglected and shunned by tourists after a decade of war, but some see its potential for rebirth.

There is no queue at the gate and only a handful of visitors, almost all Libyans, wander among the imposing ruins at the UNESCO World Heritage site.

Visiting the area, a former Roman outpost on the south coast of the Mediterranean, is "a voyage in time, a dive into history", enthuses Abdessalam Oueba, a Libyan visitor in his 60s.

Founded by the Phoenicians then conquered by Rome, the city was the birthplace of Septimius Severus, who rose to become emperor from 193 until 211.

The ruler waged military campaigns across Europe and into modern-day Iraq before dying in York, England, far from the hometown on which he had lavished resources.

Perched on a hillside with a striking view of the Mediterranean, the well-preserved ruins include a large basilica, a racecourse and a theatre seating up to 15,000 spectators on arched terraces overlooking the sea.

Among the few visiting tourists are Ihab, from Tripoli, who made the 120-kilometre (75-mile) trip to show his children a site he had visited during his own childhood.

"Leptis Magna is beautiful, the most beautiful Roman site outside Italy," the 34-year-old doctor said under a clear blue sky.

"Yet it's barely been discovered."

- 'Neglect' -
The violence that wracked Libya after the 2011 revolt that toppled Moamer Kadhafi stirred fears for the ancient ruins, prompting United Nations cultural agency UNESCO to place them and four other Libyan sites on a list of global heritage in danger.

But so far, the areas have been mostly spared from the fighting, which has largely paused since an October 2020 ceasefire.

"There haven't been any direct attacks or threats against Leptis Magna, despite the conflict," said Azeddine al-Fakih, head of the site's antiquities department.

Yet it faces other threats: a lack of resources and government support.

"In 2020, we were finally able to launch projects that should have been finished 50 years ago," he said, listing toilet facilities, offices and a perimeter fence.

"But archaeological digs have stopped, and maintenance operations are rushed and superficial."

Fakih admitted that after 10 years of conflict and state collapse, Libya's current unity government "has bigger problems to deal with".

There was almost no tourism in Libya under Kadhafi, whose rule from 1969-2011 depended heavily on the country's vast oil wealth.

Tense foreign relations and sanctions also discouraged foreign visitors.

Kadhafi began issuing tourist visas for the first time in 2003 and even created a ministry of tourism as the regime began mending ties with the West.

But all that stopped in 2011, when a NATO-backed revolt overthrew and killed Kadhafi, plunging the country into years of chaos.

- More valuable than oil -

Now, a year-long lull in violence has sparked hopes the country can move on.

Omar Hdidan, a civil engineer who volunteers to promote and maintain Leptis Magna, believes in its potential for tourism.

"It has always been neglected by the state," the 49-year-old said.

"There are no digs, no new discoveries, no campaign to encourage tourism. But Leptis Magna is more valuable than 10 oil wells."

Fakih agreed.

Leptis Magna "could be a source of income if it was managed properly", he said.

"It could create thousands of jobs, welcome millions of tourists and bring in billions of dollars. There will come a day when the oil runs out, but Leptis Magna will remain."



New Searches Underway in Portugal Near Where Madeleine McCann Disappeared in 2007

 A Portuguese official during a search operation in a vast area between the cities of Lagos and Praia da Luz for Madeleine McCann, in Lagos, Portugal, 03 June 2025. (EPA)
A Portuguese official during a search operation in a vast area between the cities of Lagos and Praia da Luz for Madeleine McCann, in Lagos, Portugal, 03 June 2025. (EPA)
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New Searches Underway in Portugal Near Where Madeleine McCann Disappeared in 2007

 A Portuguese official during a search operation in a vast area between the cities of Lagos and Praia da Luz for Madeleine McCann, in Lagos, Portugal, 03 June 2025. (EPA)
A Portuguese official during a search operation in a vast area between the cities of Lagos and Praia da Luz for Madeleine McCann, in Lagos, Portugal, 03 June 2025. (EPA)

Police investigating the disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann searched near an abandoned rural building in southern Portugal on Tuesday as they launched fresh probes near the holiday resort where she was last seen 18 years ago.

The case received worldwide interest for several years, with reports of sightings of McCann occurring as far away as Australia, while books and television documentaries were produced about her disappearance.

German investigators and Portuguese police officers and firefighters were searching in the countryside several miles from the Praia da Luz resort, where the 3-year-old disappeared from her bed while on vacation with her family on May 3, 2007.

The teams were seen using pickaxes, shovels and chainsaws to clear dense vegetation and dig near a derelict building. Firefighters pumped water out of a well.

Almost two decades on, investigators in the UK, Portugal and Germany are still piecing together what happened on the night the toddler disappeared. She was in the same room as her brother and sister — 2-year-old twins — while their parents, Kate and Gerry, had dinner with friends outside.

Portuguese police said Monday that detectives were acting on a request from a German public prosecutor as they carry out “a broad range” of searches this week in the area of Lagos, in southern Portugal.

The main suspect is a German national identified by media as Christian Brueckner, who is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for raping a 72-year-old woman in Portugal in 2005.

He is under investigation on suspicion of murder in the McCann case but hasn’t been charged. He spent many years in Portugal, including in Praia da Luz, around the time of the child’s disappearance. Brueckner has denied any involvement.

The last time police resumed searches in the case was in 2023, when detectives from the three countries took part in an operation searching near a dam and a reservoir about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the resort.

McCann's family marked the 18th anniversary of her disappearance last month, and expressed their determination to keep searching.