Libya’s internationally recognised Prime Minister Serraj al-Fayez and the military commander of its eastern half Khalifa Haftar, met and agreed national elections are necessary the United Nations said.
While they were meeting in Abu Dhabi in their first confirmed encounter since November, Haftar’s forces claimed control of the last major city in southern Libya, tilting the power balance at the expense of Serraj’s Tripoli administration.
The two men agreed “on the need to end the transitional stages in Libya through holding general elections,” the UN Libya mission (UNSMIL) said in a Tweet.
“They also agreed on ways to maintain stability in the country and unify its institutions.”
The two last met in Sicily at a Libya conference hosted by Italy.
The UN, supported by Western powers, sought for almost two years to organise elections as a way of ending eight years of conflict. A proposed date of December 10 came and went due to a lack of progress in resolving differences between rival groups.
NO ELECTION DATE
Serraj’s spokesman confirmed the meeting with Haftar but said no date for elections was set. There was no immediate comment from Haftar’s office.
Serraj heads Libya’s internationally recognised government in Tripoli while Haftar is based in the east and allied to a parallel administration.
The UN gave no further details about the Abu Dhabi meeting. After similar encounters it engineered the world body often releases pictures showing handshakes between participants. No such picture was available on Thursday.
The United Arab Emirates emerged as a key player in Libya, whose economy and political institutions are in turmoil since veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi was ousted in 2011.
The UN Tweet made no mention of an UNSMIL plan for a national conference to decide on the type of elections. Many in the east see such a conference as a waste.
Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) began its offensive in southern Libya last month, capturing the main city in the region and two oil fields, El Sharara and El Feel.
In the past week, the LNA has taken Murzuq, strategically located between Sabha and the oilfields after days of fighting, residents said.
They have now reached Ghat, near the Algerian border, the last major southern city, without meeting resistance, LNA spokesman Ahmed Mismari said.
