PARIS: Libya鈥檚 UN-backed Prime Minister Fayez Al-Sarraj will hold talks near Paris on Tuesday with Khalifa Haftar, the powerful military commander based in the country鈥檚 east, the French presidency said.
French President Emmanuel Macron will host the meeting, the presidency said in a statement on Monday.
鈥淔rance intends, through this initiative, to facilitate a political agreement鈥� between the two rivals as the newly appointed UN envoy for Libya, Ghassam Salame, takes office, the statement said.
Tuesday鈥檚 talks, which were first reported by France鈥檚 Journal du Dimanche newspaper on Sunday, would be the second between Sarraj and Haftar in the space of three months after they met in Abu Dhabi in May.
Sarraj this month laid out a new political roadmap for his violence-wracked country, including the scheduling of presidential and parliamentary elections in March 2018.
Political rivalry and fighting between militias have hampered Libya鈥檚 recovery from the chaos that followed the 2011 uprising that toppled and longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi, who was killed in the aftermath.
Sarraj鈥檚 Government of National Accord has been struggling to assert its authority since it began work in Tripoli in March 2016. Haftar鈥檚 rival administration based in the remote east has refused to recognize it.
Western intelligence services fear that Daesh terrorists are capitalizing on the chaos to set up bases in Libya as they are chased from their former strongholds in Iraq and Syria.
Libya has also become the main springboard for migrants seeking to reach the European Union by sailing to Italy in often flimsy and overloaded boats.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told newspaper Le Monde in June that Libya was 鈥渁 priority鈥� for Macron and said there was 鈥渁 security risk because of the trafficking of all kinds, including humans鈥� from Libya.
鈥淚n consultation with all its partners, France intends to show its support for the efforts to build a political compromise, under the aegis of the United Nations, which unites... all the different Libyan actors,鈥� Monday鈥檚 statement from the Elysee Palace said.
鈥淭he challenge is to build a state capable of meeting the basic needs of Libyans and endowed with a regular unified army under the authority of the civil power.
鈥淚t is necessary for the control of Libyan territory and its borders, to fight terrorist groups and arms and migrant traffickers, but also with a view to a return to a stable institutional life.鈥�
UN-backed Libya PM to meet eastern strongman near Paris
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