Belkasim Khalifa Haftar, son of the General Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), and Khaled Al-Mishri, chairman of the High Council of State, met in Ankara on Sunday, Italian news agency Nova reported on Monday.
Citing unnamed Libyan sources, Nova stated that Al-Mishri is trying to start a dialogue with the new government which would be led by Prime Minister-designate Fathi Bashagha and backed by both the LNA and the House of Representatives.
The meeting notably came a day before the House’s session on Monday, in which Bashagha presented his cabinet to Libyan lawmakers who voted to replace outgoing premier Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh earlier this month.
“Al-Mishri is now sure that the Dbeibeh government is about to be wrecked,” Nova quoted a source as saying.
However, Bashagha has so far refused to meet Al-Mishri, considering him too close to Dbeibeh, according to Nova.
Nova speculated that the negotiations with between Al-Mishri and Haftar have gone wrong by pointing out to a statement released by Al-Mishri on Facebook on the day of the parliamentary session on Monday,
“The proposed government project is equivalent to letting the capital’s attackers enter through the window, after they failed to enter by force,” he said, referencing LNA’s military campaign in western Libya between 2019 and 2020.
Mishri: Proposed government project is tantamount to enabling “aggressors” to enter Tripoli