Libyan warlord casts shadow over Italy’s bid to solve crisis
PALERMO, Italy: Eastern Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar said Tuesday he will not join other key players at Palermo talks to try to stabilise the North African nation, casting a shadow over the latest international bid to kick- start a long-stalled political process and trigger elections.
Italy is the latest country aiming to bring Libya’s disparate and often warring factions together after a Paris summit in May saw the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) and Haftar agree to hold national polls on Dec 10 – a date which has fallen by the wayside.
Acknowledging the chaotic political situation since dictator Moamer Kadhafi was deposed in 2011, the United Nations last week conceded elections will not be viable before at least the spring of 2019.
Haftar arrived in Palermo from his Benghazi stronghold on Monday evening after days of doubts over his crucial presence, but did not attend a working dinner with other leaders.
His self-proclaimed Libyan National Army ( LNA) said on Tuesday that he had travelled to the conference only to “hold a series of meetings with presidents of regional countries to discuss the latest national and international developments.”
Haftar had been due to attend roundtable talks on Tuesday morning.
“Haftar is being difficult as he has done several times in the past. This attitude cuts both ways because it has a sensational effect that momentarily ups his value, but his interlocutors who are humiliated by this will always remember,” said Paris- based Libya specialist Jalel Harchaoui.
Haftar, whose forces control all of northeastern Libya, refuses to sit down at the same table as the Islamist leaders he fiercely opposes, militarily and ideologically.