Italy brings together Libya political rivals
palermo — Libya’s two main rival leaders met on Tuesday for the first time in more than five months as Italy hosted a conference seeking to reconcile the country’s rulers a week after the United Nations shelved plans for an election next month.
Prime Minister Fayez Al Serraj, whose weak but internationally recognised government is based in western Libya, met the commander who rules most of the east, Khalifa Haftar, in Palermo, Sicily.
Despite Haftar having said he would not participate in the conference, photos released by the Italian government showed him with Serraj and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte embracing and smiling in a three-way handshake.
The Libyan rivals were pictured in a group photo with dignitaries including Conte, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, EU Council President Donald Tusk, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and French Foreign Minister JeanYves Le Drian. However, a source in Haftar’s command said he skipped the official final summit photo.
More than seven years after long-serving dictator Muammar Gaddafi was toppled by Westernbacked rebels with Nato air support, no central authority has asserted control over Libya and armed groups control the streets.
The UN has blamed a spike in violence for its decision to drop plans to hold an election next month. It still aims for a vote next year, but says Libyans should first decide what sort of election they want. Italy, the former colonial power which has large oil and gas interests in Libya and has been working to halt peoplesmuggling from the Libyan coast across the Mediterranean, had called the summit in a bid to bring together Libya’s competing factions. —