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PALERMO, Sicily — Italy’s premier on Tuesday hosted a meeting of Libya’s rival leaders on the sidelines of a conference aimed at helping its former colony crack down on Islamic militants and human trafficking.
But the exclusion of Turkey from the mini-summit prompted the Turks to pull out early, adding drama to the two-day conference at a resort on the picturesque Sicilian seaside.
Photos of the encounter showed Premier Giuseppe Conte presiding over a handshake between the Tripoli-based U.N.-backed prime minister, Fayez Serraj, and rival Gen. Khalifa Hifter, commander of the self-styled Libyan National Army that is based in Libya’s east.
Other leaders attending the Palermo conference, including French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, and the U.N. envoy Ghassan Salame also participated. The office of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who backs Hiftar, confirmed he joined the “mini-summit” Tuesday with Conte and other leaders.
Italy’s populist government organized the two-day conference in hopes of making progress on ending Libya’s lawlessness and promoting a U.N. framework for eventual elections.
But expectations were limited, with Hiftar’s camp making clear that he wasn’t participating in the conference itself but rather meeting with leaders of neighboring countries on the sidelines. Neither Hiftar nor el-Sissi posed for the final conference group photo.
And Turkish Vice-President Fuat Oktay pulled out before it ended, citing his exclusion from the morning mini-summit.
“The informal meeting, held this (morning) with a number of players and having them presented as the prominent protagonists of the Mediterranean, is a very misleading and damaging approach which we vehemently oppose,” he told reporters.
“Turkey is leaving the meeting with deep disappointment,” he said.
An Italian diplomatic official, briefing reporters in Palermo, said the atmosphere of the mini-meeting was cordial and collaborative and that Hiftar told Serraj to stay in charge until the elections.
A statement on social media Tuesday by a spokesman for Hiftar’s army, Ahmed al-Mesmari, suggested that Hifter was snubbing the broader conference because he accuses representatives from the Tripoli side of working with militias he considers illegitimate, as well as Islamic extremists backed by Qatar.
In an interview provided by his media office, Hiftar said he wanted to meet with African leaders in particular to discuss migration.
“We are still at war, and the country needs to secure its borders,” Hiftar said.
Libya plunged into chaos after the 2011 uprising that ousted and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi, and it is now governed by rival administrations in the east and west with both relying on the support of militias.
It has also become a haven for Islamic militants and armed groups, including several from neighboring countries, which survive on looting and human trafficking, particularly in the remote south of the country.
Italy’s anti-migrant government is keen in particular to stem the Libyan-based migrant smuggling networks that have sent hundreds of thousands of would-be refugees to Europe via Italy in recent years.
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AP producer Maggie Hyde in Palermo; Brian Rohan in Cairo and Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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