Haftar and Bashagha Meeting: Attendance Record

The international community deals with the commander of the Libyan army and the head of the parallel government as one party.

The meeting that brought together the Libyan army commander and the head of the government recognized by Parliament falls within the framework of media marketing in light of a crisis that both sides are suffering as a result of the accelerating changes in the Libyan arena, which are clearly not in favor of both.

Benghazi (Libya) - Libyan political circles say that the meeting that brought together the army commander, Khalifa Haftar, and the head of the Libyan government appointed by Parliament, Fathi Bashagha, is an attempt by both of them to confirm their presence in the political scene, without this meeting having any real impact on the course of the situation in Libya. Especially since the international community deals with both sides as one side.

The circles indicate that the army commander, who was absent from the media after his meeting last January with the head of the CIA, William Burns, wants to say that he is still on the scene, especially after news spread about his illness.

The meeting with Burns was not comfortable for the army commander, in light of leaks that said that the meeting included American demands to remove the Russian Wagner elements that support the army, during which the American official stressed his country's support for the unity government headed by Abdul Hamid al-Dabaiba.

A brief statement by the army's media office stated that Haftar "received in his office at the headquarters of the General Command in Benghazi, the head of the Libyan government, Fathi Bashagha," without further details.

For its part, Bashagha's government said in a statement that "the meeting discussed the current political situation and the foreign and armed military presence on Libyan territory."

The unity government says that its president, Abdul Hamid al-Dabaiba, discussed with UN envoy Abdullah Batili serious proposals for holding elections

The statement stated that the meeting discussed "combating terrorism, illegal immigration, and border protection."

According to the Bashagha government, the meeting was attended by “Foreign Minister Hafez Kaddour, Minister of State for Prime Minister Affairs Muhammad Farhat, and Director of Haftar’s office, Lieutenant General Khairy al-Tamimi.”

Since the Libyan House of Representatives located in Tobruk announced that it had given confidence to Bashagha's government, it seemed that Haftar was trying to avoid showing declared support for the latter. Rather, he went on to criticize all political entities in the past months, in an attempt by him to present himself to the Libyans as an alternative.

Observers believe that Haftar tried not to show his support for the Bashagha government, despite the fact that it operates in his areas of influence, and even went at one point to conclude agreements with the unity government, including the presidency of the oil corporation.

Observers indicate that Haftar wanted to maintain a margin of maneuver, in anticipation of the variables that are no longer in his favour, with the growing American interest in the Libyan arena.

Washington does not hide its position in terms of supporting the Dabaiba government, and its adherence to the latter's assumption of supervision of the upcoming electoral entitlement.

On Sunday, the head of the unity government discussed with the head of the United Nations mission in the country, Abdullah Batili, serious proposals to hold elections as soon as possible.

This came during a meeting between Al-Dabaiba and Batili at the Cabinet Office in the capital, Tripoli, according to a statement by the media office of the head of the Libyan unity government.

The statement stated that the two sides "discussed a number of serious proposals to complete the elections as soon as possible."

The two sides also discussed the results of recent meetings and consultations conducted by Batelli with local and international parties.

The statement said, "The two sides stressed the necessity of issuing the constitutional rule in order to focus professionally on the rest of the executive steps to reach the elections."

He pointed out, "The meeting touched on the role of development in creating stability, and that it be fair in terms of its distribution and take into account priority."

On Saturday, Batili met with a number of members of the Libyan House of Representatives in Tripoli, and said in a tweet on Twitter that they called for “the unification of institutions as a precondition for getting out of the political stalemate in the country.”

Libya is going through a political crisis represented in the presence of two governments, the first is mandated by the House of Representatives headed by Bashagha, and the second is the unity government headed by Dabaiba, who refuses to hand over power except to a government that comes through a new elected parliament, despite the end of his term last June.

To solve this, the United Nations is sponsoring negotiations between the House of Representatives and the state to agree on a constitutional basis that leads to elections. However, these negotiations stalled due to the disagreement of the two houses over the conditions for running for the presidential elections, which resulted in a political stalemate.