Libya rivals hold talks in Sicily

Libya’s two main rival leaders met yesterday 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 to hold an election next month.

Prime Minister Fayaz Al Sarraj, 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, an Italian government source said.

Haftar had flown to the conference on Monday evening and was holding meetings on the sidelines, despite having said he would not participate. A photo showed him meeting Al Sarraj in the presence of Italian Prime Mininster Giuseppe Conte.

“I will not take part in the summit even if it takes 100 years” he said in a television interview viewed by Reuters before it was aired.