U.S. President Donald Trump has pressed for Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar to pledge support for the U.N.-backed unity government, according to Al Bawaba.
Khalifa Haftar, who commands the self-proclaimed Libyan National Army – an armed force that controls one piece of the many pieces of Libya splintered by the civil war – has often been described as “Libya’s most potent warlord,” having fought “with and against nearly every significant faction” in Libya’s conflicts, and is known as having a “reputation for unrivalled military experience”.
Trump reportedly told Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is a close-ally of Haftar, to pressure the commander and the rival parliament based in Libya’s east to pass a vote of confidence in the unity government headed by Fayez al-Sarraj.
“Trump has asked Sisi to play a part in ending the conflict and to make Haftar and Sarraj agree on a truce that would allow them to focus on combatting extremists,” the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Al Bawaba.
The Libyan Civil War is an ongoing conflict among rival groups seeking control of Libya. The conflict has been mostly between the government of the House of Representatives that was elected democratically in 2014, and whom Haftar is apart of, and the rival General Nation Congress. Amid the conflict, terrorist groups have also entered the fray – creating a rise in extremist forces.
In February, the Egyptian army hosted Sarraj and Haftar in Cairo for talks to settle the situation. They were set to meet in person, but Sarraj said that they didn’t meet face to face.
The army announced that the two sides had agreed to form “a joint committee” to come up with amendments to the deal that set up the unity government.
A senior Libyan government source told Al Bawaba last month that Sarraj had received an invitation to meet Trump and his administration at the White House in June.
The source said that Sarraj and Haftar could meet face-to-face in Washington.
The invitation came days after Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni met Trump to find a deal that could help end six years of war in Libya.
