PALERMO: Italy hosts Libyan and global leaders on Tuesday to try to kick-start a long-stalled political process and trigger elections, with eastern Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar casting a shadow over the fresh bid to bring stability to the chaos-stricken nation.
Italy is the latest country aiming to bring Libya’s disparate and often warring factions together after a Paris summit in May saw the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) and Haftar agree to hold national polls on December 10 — a date which has fallen by the wayside.
Acknowledging the chaotic political situation since dictator Muammar Qaddafi was deposed in 2011, the United Nations last week conceded elections will not be viable before at least the spring of 2019.
Haftar arrived in Palermo from his Benghazi stronghold on Monday evening after days of doubts over his crucial presence, but did not attend a working dinner with other leaders.
“The path to Libyan stability is complex and does not include shortcuts or miraculous solutions,” Conte told the dinner, according to Italian media.
Conte did not confirm reports that he would hold bilateral talks on Monday evening, and it was not certain that Haftar would join roundtable talks set for Tuesday morning.
Analysts say the Sicily summit risks being compromised not only by tensions between Libyan factions but also the competing agendas of foreign powers.
Just as in May, the key Libyan invitees are Haftar, the eastern parliament’s speaker Aguila Salah, GNA head Fayez Al-Sarraj and Khaled Al-Mechri, speaker of a Tripoli-based upper chamber.
The GNA says it will use the Palermo talks to lobby for security reforms that unify the army, a constitutionally rooted electoral process, economic reform and an end to “parallel institutions.”
The US, Arab countries and European nations have all sent representatives to the talks, including Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
For Rome’s populist government, a top priority is stemming the flow of migrants who exploit Libya’s security vacuum in their quest to reach European shores, often via Italy.
UN envoy Ghassan Salame told the Security Council on Thursday that a national conference in early 2019 would be organized to provide “a platform” for Libyans to spell out their vision for the future.
But diplomatic wrangling between Italy and France hangs over this summit.
In September, Italy’s defense minister and parliamentary speaker both partly blamed France for Libya’s security crisis, which continues to simmer some seven years after the NATO-backed uprising toppled Qaddafi.
The Italian swipes came as Tripoli was plagued by militia clashes that killed at least 117 people and wounded more than 400 between late August and late September.
Salame’s deputy Stephanie Williams on Monday hailed the GNA’s moves to secure Tripoli since then but said more must be done to “generate regular forces ready to assume security responsibilities in the capital.”
Rome and Paris have for months been at loggerheads over Libya’s election timetable. While France repeatedly endorsed the December date, Italy opposed it.
Italy has not been alone in pushing for elections to be delayed. The December 10 date was also viewed skeptically by Washington and Moscow.
One Italian diplomatic source said that no definitive poll date should be set at the summit and it is “not sure that there will be a final document” after the talks.
According to diplomats and analysts, Russia, France, Egypt and the UAE support Haftar, while Turkey and Qatar have thrown their weight behind rivals to the eastern strongman, especially Islamist groups.
