18 – 24 September: US Ambassador meets with Haftar as international momentum on Libya grows

Sep 26, 2019 | International actors

On 17 September, representatives of the EU, France, Italy, UK, Russia, US, UAE, Egypt, and Arab League met in Berlin to discuss Libya. UN Special Envoy to Libya, Ghassan Salame, reportedly attended, but details about the meeting remain vague.

On 18 September, the head of the Government of National Accord (GNA), Fayez al-Serraj, met with the returning Italian Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte. During their meeting Serraj commented on the need to return to a political process and thanked Italy for its support of the GNA.

On 18 September, Conte and French President Emmanuel Macron met in Rome where Conte claimed that they agreed on a joint initiative and wanted to see a meeting drawing various Libyan actors together and Macron described a “real convergence” between the two countries on Libya. They also discussed plans to address a system for redistributing migrants who arrive in Italy from the central Mediterranean.

On 19 September, US Ambassador to Libya Richard Norland met with the head of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Khalifa Haftar, in Dubai. Both the US and LNA released contradictory details about the meeting. However, it is thought that Norland stressed to Haftar that the US will be putting its full support behind the planned German-hosted international conference and is eager to see momentum on a negotiated political settlement to the Libyan crisis. Norland reportedly told Haftar that he must return to the dialogue process.

On 23 September, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said France will chair a meeting on Libya on 26 September on the side lines of the UN General Assembly in New York. It will be attended by the permanent members of the UN Security Council plus the UAE, Egypt, Turkey and Italy.