On July 25, 2017, at a serene historical site just outside Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron hosted a rare meeting between Libyan rivals, namely Gen. Khalifa Hifter, the commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) who has the military upper hand in eastern Libya, and Fayez al-Sarraj, the head of the Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli. Every now and then, Sarraj would talk of the capital being safe to create the impression that he is in control. But the harsh reality was and still is that Tripoli was and continues to be controlled by various militias that are nominally aligned with the GNA but are not fully under its control.
The final communique signed at the end of that meeting, and read out to the media while both men stood next to Macron, said both sides agreed to hold elections in 2018, refrain from use of force and continue to look for a political solution. Macron appeared satisfied with what was achieved, and he commended the two men for showing what he called “historic courage” before declaring that the “cause of peace [in Libya] has made great progress today.” However, little peace was actually brought to the war-ravaged country after the meeting. The country has not been in total war since 2014, but fighting is never far away.
