Egypt’s efforts to hold a meeting between General Commander of the Libyan National Army Khalifa Haftar and head of the Presidency Council Faiez Sarraj will not succeed, International law professor at Tobruk University, Saad Miftah al-Aker, told Sputnik News Saturday.
Aker cited Sarraj’s reserves on the outcomes of the recent meeting in Cairo regarding unifying the Libyan Army as the main reason.
An agreement was expected to be signed between the two rival factions on Oct. 24 in Cairo to unify Libyan Army, but that step was never taken.
During the seventh round of negotiations held between Libyan military delegations in Cairo last week, a draft was set to unify the Libyan army and restructure Libya’s Presidential Guard.
As per the draft, Libyan military factions set frameworks for the mission of the Presidential Guard, which would be affiliated to the general commander of Libyan National Army.
Aker said Sarraj rejected to recognize Haftar as a general commander of the Libyan National Army and to form three command boards of the Libyan army: the National Security Council, High Defense Council and the General Command Council.
The professor added that Sarraj has insisted on subordinating the military institution to the Presidency Council, stressing it is “the executive authority.”
The final decision to unify the army will depend on the outcomes of the Palermo conference on Libya, hosted by Italy on Nov. 12-13 to call on Libyan rival parties to come together in an attempt to hold presidential elections.
The Italian initiative comes after the Paris conference failed to resolve the fragmentation in Libya’s political scene.
Italy confirmed that Haftar, Sarraj, the chairman of the House of Representatives (HoR) Aguila Saleh, and Chairman of the High Council Khaled al-Mashri will attend the conference.
