A 2008 agreement on Italian compensation to Libya for years of colonialism and recent political developments will be discussed by Speaker of the House of Representatives Aguila Saleh and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppi Conte this week.
Saleh headed early Tuesday to Rome upon the invitation of Conte. His media adviser Fathi al-Marimi said that Saleh will hold several meetings with Conte, Italian foreign and infrastructure ministers, and the head of the Italian House of Representatives.
Marimi added that the 2008 agreement entails compensation in the form of establishing roads and providing Libyans with education at Italian universities.
Saleh will also shed light on the common interests between the two countries and Palremo conference on Libya. He will call upon Italian officials to support Libya at the international fora to lift the arms embargo off the Libyan National Army.
Italy will host Palermo conference on Libya Nov. 12-13, calling on Libyan rival parties to come together in an attempt to hold presidential elections.
The initiative comes after the Paris conference failed to resolve the fragmentation in Libya’s political scene.
Italy confirmed that Saleh, General Commander of Libyan National Army Khalifa Haftar, Chairman of the High Council Khaled al-Mashri and Chairman of the Presidency Council Faiez Sarraj will attend the conference.
Sarraj and Italian Prime Minister Conte discussed on Friday the arrangements of the conference, during which Sarraj called on the international and regional community to support Libya in order to build a democratic civilian state based on constitutional rule and elections.
Italy expects that Russian President Vladimir Putin, Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron will attend the conference, although they have not confirmed.
Previously, Libyan rival factions gathered in May at Paris Conference to agree to a political roadmap for the war-struck country to hold presidential and parliamentary elections before the end of 2018.
During the conference, the factions reached several agreements on a roadmap leading to parliamentary and presidential elections on Dec. 10.
However, none of these agreements have been put into action as the Libyan leaders declined to sign a closing declaration outlining their commitments at the conference, including laying the groundwork for the vote with drafting new electoral laws and establishing a “constitutional basis” by mid-September.
