Libyan premier, rival general in UAE for ‘mediation’ talks

DUBAI: The prime minister of Libya’s UN-backed government and a powerful rival general met Tuesday in the UAE in the latest effort to resolve the country’s long-running conflict.
Libya’s armed forces posted an image on Facebook showing Field Marshal Khalifa Hafter standing next to Prime Minister Fayez Serraj after taking part in surprise talks in Abu Dhabi.
The two men met “a short while ago in Abu Dhabi after Arab and international mediation,” a short caption for the photo said, without elaborating.
Libya TV said the two men agreed on holding presidential and parliamentary elections next year, but it’s unclear how such a vote would be held in the fractured country.
Emirati officials did not immediately comment on the meeting. The UAE’s military is suspected of carrying out airstrikes inside of Libya supporting Hafter and operating out of a base in the country’s east near the border with Egypt.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, a close ally of Hafter, is scheduled to visit the UAE on a two-day trip beginning Wednesday. It is unclear if he will be part of any talks. Russia also has sought to cultivate Hafter, who lived for years in the US.
Abdel-Salam Nassiya, a lawmaker based in the western town of Zintan, said one of the main issues dividing Libya’s rival factions is how the country’s military will be structured and commanded in the future.
“We hope this meeting leads to a breakthrough that ends the current political stalemate,” he said.