Libyan players in Italy for fresh bid to solve crisis
PALERMO, Italy: Libya’s key political players meet with global leaders in Palermo on Monday in the latest bid by major powers to kickstart a long-stalled political process and trigger elections.
A summit in Paris in May had seentheTripoli-basedGovernment of National Accord (GNA) and eastern Libya strongman Khalifa Haftar agree to hold national polls on December 10, but that date has fallen by the wayside.
Acknowledging the chaotic political situation since dictator Muammar Gaddafi was deposed in 2011, the UN on Thursday conceded elections will not be viable before at least the spring of 2019. A question mark hangs over Haftar’s crucial presence in Palermo, with Rome on Sunday denying a Haftar official’s statement that Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte had paid a lightning visit to his Benghazi headquarters amid reports he might not attend. A source close to the Italian government could not confirm if the two had been in telephone contact.
Analysts say the Sicily summit risks being compromised not only by tensions between Libyan factions, but also the competing agendas of foreign powers.
Just as in May, the key Libyan invitees are Haftar, the eastern parliament’s speaker Aguila Salah, GNA head Fayez al-Sarraj and Khaled al-Mechri, speaker of a Tripoli-based upper chamber. — AFP