Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte stepped up his efforts to find a political solution to the Libyan crisis, arriving unexpectedly in Tripoli on Sunday where he met with the head of Presidential Council, Fayez al-Sarraj, before heading to the eastern city of Benghazi to meet Libyan National Army (LNA) commander Khalifa Haftar and House Speaker Aguila Saleh.
Officials at Haftar’s office said he met at his headquarters outside Benghazi with the prime minister and his accompanying team.
The Italian government only made a brief statement, saying Conte met with Sarraj in Tripoli, without giving further details.
Sarraj briefed his guest on the current political situation in Libya and the government’s economic and security reforms, bilateral relations and means of developing cooperation between their two countries.
Both officials reviewed Libyan government’s steps “on the path of economic and security reform” and expressed aspiration to develop cooperation relations to include several vital areas and service sectors.
In his first official visit to Libya since taking office in May, Conte forged strong ties with Haftar, in addition to his usual relations with the authorities in the west of the country.
Italy hosted the Palermo conference last month to discuss the Libyan crisis, in the presence of Arab and international partners. However, Haftar did not participate in the meetings and only attended a mini-summit with Sarraj on the conference’s sidelines.
The meeting was followed by media leaks stating that Conte intended to arrange a meeting between the rival Libyan leaders about two weeks ago in Brussels, Belgium.
Moreover, Rome plans to reopen its consulate in Benghazi, which has been closed since 2013, according to the Italian news agency Aki, citing sources reporting that the decision was reached after Haftar’s last visit to Italy on December 5.
