Member of Libya’s High Council of State (HCS) Ahmed Lanqi called for holding a meeting between Libya’s rival parties on the sidelines of Palermo Conference for its outcome to be successful, unlike previous conferences.
Lanqi told 218 Channel that Palermo Conference will not succeed without holding several meetings on its sidelines with the General Commander Khalifa Haftar, head of UN-backed government Fayez Serraj, chairman of the House of Representatives (HoR) Aguila Saleh, and Chairman of the High Council of State (HCS) Khaled al-Mashri. HCS advises both the government of National Accord (GNA) and the HoR.
During these meetings, the parties should come up with a plan to unify the executive authority and state institutions, particularly military institutions and consider immigrants’ return home.
Meanwhile, he remarked that the parties should also agree on the deadline for holding elections, and all the parties should vow to accept its results.
Participating parties must abide by the outcome of Palermo Conference, otherwise, it would be as futile as preceding initiatives, Lanqi anticipated.
The upcoming Palermo Conference on Libya —which will be held Nov. 12-13.— will bring together the main Libyan parties, with the purpose of defining platforms for negotiation between the different components of Libya’s fragmented political arena.
Italian intelligence officials expressed their distrust in the ability of Libyan parties to abide by the meetings’ results, citing the conflicting goals and different agendas of each party.
In addition to Sarraj, and the strongman of the east Haftar, Italy must ensure the presence of high level representatives from Russia, the United States, Egypt, and main actors of the European Union: France and Italy.
Since Muammar Gaddafi’s ouster, Libya has spiraled into civil war between several parties competing for the power causing divisions inside the national army.
There have been two major factions on the ground since 2014; one led by Haftar, commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), who now controls the eastern side of Libya in cooperation with the Tobruk parliament. The other is led by Sarraj in Tripoli.
