The struggle of international actors for influence in Libya continues to hamper moves to end the divisions in the country. Libya is still a scene for competition between Italy and France on the one hand and between the Turkey-Qatar-Sudan and Egypt-Saudi Arabia-UAE blocs on the other. The Egypt-Saudi-UAE bloc supports the Tobruk-based House of Representatives and military strongman Khalifa Hifter, the Libyan National Army commander who opposes the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord. Hifter, also supported by France, doesn’t conceal his enmity for Qatar and Turkey, countries he accuses of financing the Islamists. Russia, which enabled international intervention in 2011 but now regrets that decision, wants to find itself a place in Libya and is also supporting Hifter.

Turkey, which maintains silence when it comes to French and Italian initiatives that backed the efforts of UN envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame, was aiming at finding a place for itself at the Palermo conference held in Sicily.

The Libya conference convened under the slogan of “With Libya for Libya.” Hifter first announced that he would boycott the conference to avoid sitting at the same table with Turkey, Qatar and other Islamist rivals, but then surprisingly showed up in Palermo the night of Nov. 12 to attend a limited attendance meeting with Fayez al-Serraj, the leader of the Libya Presidency Council and prime minister of the Government of National Accord. Turkey and Qatar were excluded from the unofficial gathering, which was attended by Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, European Council President Donald Tusk and Salame.

The veto against Turkey's and Qatar’s participation may also be interpreted as maneuvering by Sisi, who persuaded Hifter to come to Palermo.