The top United Nations official in Libya visited East Libya on a three-day trip ending Monday to assess how the region's conflict-affected cities – some of them still littered with mines and unexploded missiles – are rehabilitating as they deal with a fresh wave of internally displaced persons and prepare for national elections in June.

"In New York as I was planning ahead for the United Nations post-conflict role in Libya I was constantly watching on the television the battle that was going on on the road that we've come on today," Special Representative of the Secretary General to Libya Ian Martin told the Breqa local council on his first stop. "I have some idea of what Breqa and its people suffered but I wanted to see that for myself and understand it better."