Can Egypt help end Tripoli offensive?
The Libyan National Forces Alliance aligned with military commander Khalifa Hifter met with officials in Cairo to gather support for Hifter’s offensive in Tripoli.
CAIRO — The Libyan National Forces Alliance (NFA), which includes former ministers, tribal sheikhs, politicians and human rights activists close to military commander Gen. Khalifa Hifter, held a meeting in Cairo on June 17 to support the efforts of Hifter’s Libyan National Army (LNA) in fighting what they describe as terrorism and extremism in all of Libya and to emphasize its role in restoring Libya’s stability.
In the final communique of the meeting, the NFA expressed the need to enable civil institutions in Libya to carry out their work in a secure and stable atmosphere and reach out to Tripoli's militants. The communique also accused UN envoy Ghassan Salameh of bias as a mediator.
The NFA statement also condemned Qatari and Turkish support for the armed militias and rejected the peace initiative put forward by the chairman of the Presidential Council of Libya and the prime minister of the Government of National Accord, Fayez al-Sarraj.
On June 16, Sarraj suggested a Libyan forum in coordination with the UN mission, representing all national forces from all areas, with the task of holding presidential and parliamentary elections before the end of 2019. But Sarraj said he was not willing to sit and talk with Hifter.
