According to a Libyan lawmaker on Saturday, a UN-brokered meeting between the speakers of Libya’s rival assemblies in Egypt has failed to take place.
Upon the invitation of UN Special Adviser on Libya Stephanie Williams, Khaled al-Mishri, the head of the Tripoli-based High Council of State, was invited to hold talks on Saturday with Aquila Saleh, the Speaker of the east Libya-based House of Representatives, in the Egyptian capital Cairo.
The lawmaker stated on condition of anonymity, “Saleh refused to meet al-Mishri and left Cairo late Friday to east Libya.”
He said the two rivals disagreed on the agenda of their meeting.
The lawmaker added that, “While Saleh wanted the talks to focus on the conflicting points that hinder progress in the talks of the Constitutional Track Committee, al-Mishri wanted the discussions to focus on reaching an understanding on giving a bigger role to the High Council of State.”
In an effort to a reach consensus on the constitutional framework to hold Libya’s long-awaited elections, Egypt is currently hosting the third and last round of UN-sponsored talks.
In the hope that the vote will contribute to ending years of armed conflict that has plagued the oil-rich country, Libyans are still waiting for the stalled polls to take place.
