24 July 2017•Update: 24 July 2017
By Hajer M'tiri
PARIS
French President Emmanuel Macron is to bring together Libyan rivals in a high-level meeting near Paris on Tuesday.
France’s leader will host talks between Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj of the Tripoli-based UN-backed unity government and Libyan National Army commander Khalifa Haftar who heads rival forces in the east of the country.
The Elysee on Monday confirmed the talks would take place at La Celle Saint-Cloud, located in the western suburbs of Paris.
It will be the first meeting between the Libyan factions since exploratory talks hosted by the U.A.E. in Abu Dhabi in early May.
"France intends, by this initiative, to facilitate a political agreement between the Libyan president and the commander of the Libyan National Army, at a time when the new special representative of the United Nations Secretary General for Libya, Ghassan Salame, participates in exchanges, takes office as mediator of the United Nations," the Elysee said.
Libya has been locked in a state of violence and turmoil since when a bloody popular uprising ended with the ouster and death of former President Muammar Gaddafi.
The oil-rich North African country has remained turbulent, with the country's stark political divisions yielding at least three different seats of government and a host of rival militia groups.
"In consultation with all its partners, France intends to show its support for the efforts to build a political compromise, under the aegis of the United Nations, which unites... all the different Libyan actors," Monday’s statement added.
"The challenge is to build a state capable of meeting the basic needs of Libyans and endowed with a regular unified army under the authority of the civil power.
"It is necessary for the control of Libyan territory and its borders, to fight terrorist groups and arms and migrant traffickers, but also with a view to a return to a stable institutional life," it went on to say.
