Italy confident Haftar will attend peace summit

PALERMO — Italy said on Monday it was confident the strongman who rules eastern Libya, Khalifa Haftar, would attend a peace summit, as Italian officials prepared to open the conference with no public sign yet whether Haftar would arrive.

Libya’s prime minister, who is based in the west, arrived for the conference, but Haftar, the most powerful man in the east, kept the hosts guessing about his plans.

Italy hopes the conference in the Sicilian city of Palermo will resurrect United Nations efforts to stage elections in Libya after the United Nations finally abandoned plans last week to hold a vote next month.

“I expect him (Haftar) to be present since there is no doubt that he is one of the decisive players of the stabilisation of his country,” Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told newspaper.

Prime Minister Fayez Al Serraj’s western-based government is internationally recognised but has struggled to assert its authority in a country still mostly controlled by armed groups, eight years after Nato-backed rebels toppled longserving dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

A rival parliament and government are based in the east, where most towns and cities are under the control of Haftar.

Officials in Haftar’s office were unavailable to confirm whether would attend the conference, which Italy hopes will give new impetus to peace efforts. —