Libya’s rival speakers fail to meet in Egypt

By Moataz Wanees

TRIPOLI, Libya (AA) – A UN-brokered meeting between the speakers of Libya’s rival assemblies in Egypt has failed to take place, according to a Libyan lawmaker on Saturday.

Khaled al-Mishri, the head of the Tripoli-based High Council of State, was invited by UN special adviser on Libya, Stephanie Williams, to hold talks on Saturday with Aquila Saleh, the Speaker of the east Libya-based House of Representatives, in the Egyptian capital Cairo.

“But Saleh refused to meet al-Mishri and left Cairo late Friday to east Libya,” the lawmaker told Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

He said the two rivals disagreed on the agenda of their meeting.

“While Saleh wanted the talks to focus on the conflicting points that hinder progress in the talks of the Constitutional Track Committee, al-Mishri wanted the discussions to focus on reaching an understanding on giving a bigger role to the High Council of State,” he said.

Egypt is currently hosting the third and last round of UN-sponsored talks in an effort to reach consensus on the constitutional framework to hold Libya’s long-awaited elections.

Libyans are still waiting for the stalled polls to take place in the hope that the vote will contribute to ending years of armed conflict that has plagued the oil-rich country.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar