The Speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives (HoR), Ageela Saleh, met on Tuesday with Italian President Sergio Mattarella, Italian Parliament President Roberto Fico, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio.
The media office of the HoR announced that Saleh had arrived in Rome on Monday evening on an official visit to discuss recent developments in Libya, as well as his political initiative to end the crisis.
In an interview with Italian news agency “Adnkronos”, Saleh said that he “asked for [Italy’s] support to resolve the Libyan crisis, to resume political dialogue and give life to a new government”.
Saleh recently presented a political initiative to solve the Libyan crisis, which involves the formation of a new Presidential Council with three members representing Libya’s three regions of Tripolitania, Cyrenaica and Fezzan. The new Presidential Council would appoint a new Prime Minister and create a government to be accepted by Parliament’s vote of confidence.
Saleh’s trip to Rome came on the heels of a visit to Geneva where he met with the Acting SRSG and Head of the United Nations Special Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Stephanie Williams, to whom he said he was ready to start a dialogue with the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA).
Talking about the GNA, Saleh said “it is an institution that we do not recognize, but dialogue must resume”.
The HoR concluded by saying that Italy must support a ceasefire in Libya, or risk that the country becomes embroiled in further military operations that damage oil plants and vital institutions.