Date: Nov 12, 2018 Source: The Daily Star Italy hosts Libya conference to push new UN peace plan Reuters PALERMO, Italy: Italy will host a Libya conference that starts on Monday and aims to push forward a new U.N. plan to stabilize the troubled North African country after a initiative to hold elections next month failed. Last week, U.N. Envoy Ghassan Salame officially abandoned a Western plan to hold national elections on Dec. 10 as a way out of conflict that has raged in the oil producer since the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Instead the United Nations, which has been trying to mediate for years, wants to hold first a national conference to reconcile a country divided between hundreds of rival armed groups, tribes, towns and regions. Western powers that helped topple Gaddafi then left Libya to its chaos, letting militias and radical Islamist groups grow. But worried about it turning into a source of instability on the shores of Europe, European powers have recently paid Libya more attention, and diplomats hope the two-day meeting in the Sicilian city of Palermo will keep up that interest. France hosted a summit in May during which the main Libyan rivals pledged to hold parliamentary and presidential elections in December. But weeks of fighting between militias in the capital Tripoli, as well as deadlock between rump parliaments in Tripoli and the east, has made that plan unrealistic. Italy hopes the conference will help keep pressure on Libyan players to overcome their divisions. The OPEC oil producer has two governments, a U.N.-backed administration in the capital and a largely powerless eastern version aligned with influential veteran commander Khalifa Haftar, whose forces control much of the east. Italian officials were scrambling at the weekend to secure Haftar's presence. If he shows up, it will be his first meeting with the Tripoli-based Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj since the Paris summit, analysts said. "I expect him (Haftar) to be present since there is no doubt that he is one of the decisive players of the stabilization of his country," Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said in an interview with La Stampa newspaper. Also in attendance will be the internationally recognized House of Representatives, as well as the State Council, a rival assembly. Western diplomats hope the meeting will help overcome differences between Italy and France, which both have extensive oil interests in Libya but have used different approaches to trying to resolve the conflict. France has been courting Haftar, who is supported by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, which see his forces as a bulwark against Islamists. Italy is the main backer of Serraj and his weak Government of National Accord (GNA), and has worked with local groups in Libya to stop Europe-bound migrants from embarking by boat. In his newspaper interview, Conte denied that there was rivalry with France over Libya, saying Paris and Rome share "the same viewpoint and objectives". "We face a common challenge (the stabilization of Libya) and the risks of a further deteriorations of the crisis are weighing on us all," Conte said. Western power want Serraj's government to enact economic reforms to a system that they say gives Libya's multitude of armed groups easy access to cheap dollars. The U.N.'s Salame told la Repubblica newspaper that the question of economic reform and security would be central to the Palermo meeting. "We need to work to make sure Libya's resources benefit the entire population and not just a few millionaires who are becoming ever richer," he was quoted as saying. Diplomats say delayed reforms introduced in September, including a fee on purchases of foreign currency, can only partially ease Libya's economic woes as long as the central bank remains divided and predatory factions retain their positions. Italian PM visits Haftar in Benghazi before Libya talks Agence France Presse BENGHAZI, Libya: Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte visited the Libyan city of Benghazi Sunday to meet military strongman Khalifa Haftar ahead of talks aimed at stabilizing the war-torn African country. Libya’s key political players are to meet international leaders in Palermo, Sicily, Monday in the latest bid by major powers to kick-start a long-stalled political process and stage elections. Conte traveled to Benghazi, east of Libya’s capital Tripoli, to discuss the “latest developments on the Palermo conference,” a senior official from Haftar’s self-proclaimed Libyan National Army said. Haftar, who visited Rome in late October, has confirmed he would take part in the conference, according to the Italian government. But pro-Haftar media later reported that he would boycott the talks, without elaborating. They declined to confirm or deny the reports. Libya fell into chaos following the NATO-backed uprising that toppled dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. Two rival administrations have since emerged the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord and an eastern administration backed by Haftar. They agreed in May to hold national elections on Dec. 10. Just as in May, the key Libyan invitees are Haftar, the eastern Parliament’s Speaker Aguila Salah, GNA head Fayez al-Sarraj and Khaled al-Mechri, speaker of a Tripoli-based upper chamber. Sarraj urged the international community to find a “common vision” for the future of his chaos-hit North African nation. The GNA says it will use the Palermo talks to lobby for security reforms that unify the army, a constitutionally-rooted electoral process, economic reform and an end to “parallel institutions.” The U.S., Arab countries and European nations will all send representatives to the talks set to take place Monday and Tuesday. For Rome’s populist government, a top priority is stemming the flow of migrants who exploit Libya’s security vacuum in their quest to reach European shores, often via Italy. The U.N. has said that a national conference in early 2019 would be organized to provide “a platform” for Libyans to spell out their vision for the future. Diplomatic wrangling between Italy and France hangs over the week’s summit. The countries have for months been at loggerheads over Libya’s election timetable. While France repeatedly endorsed the December date, Italy opposed it. In September, Italy’s defense minister and parliamentary speaker both blamed France for Libya’s security crisis, which continues to simmer some seven years after the NATO-backed uprising toppled Gadhafi. The Italian swipes came as Tripoli was plagued by militia clashes that killed at least 117 people and wounded more than 400 between late August and late September.