France | Macron plays peacemaker, hosting top Libyan rivals

In this Sept. 22, 2016 file photo, fighters of the Libyan forces affiliated to the Tripoli government rest and reload weapons during combat against IS militants

President Emmanuel Macron is hosting a meeting of the two main rival leaders of chaotic Libya, trying to play peacemaker for a country where the stakes are high for both Europe and Africa.

The series of meetings at a chateau in La Celle Saint-Cloud, west of Paris, will bring together Fayez Serraj, prime minister of the U.N.- backed unity government, and Gen. Khalifa Hifter, the Egyptian- backed commander of Libya’s self-styled national army. Macron plans separate meetings with each ahead of an encounter between the two Libyans in the presence of U.N.’s newly appointed special envoy for Libya, Ghassan Salame.

French officials hope the meetings will facilitate a political entente. The encounters are to end with a joint declaration stating, among other things, that there can be no military solution to the crisis. It would also lay down the principle of a cease-fire — except for fighting Islamic militants, an official of the French presidential palace said. The declaration would be “simple but constructive,” according to the official, and be a first between the two protagonists despite past meetings. The official could not be named in keeping with presidential policy.

The encounter is not expected to resolve the knotty problems of Libya, politically fractured and awash in militias and human traffickers preying on migrants who use the Libyan coast as a jumping off point to Europe, mainly Italy. But it would be a basis for the U.N. envoy to come up with proposals in the weeks and months ahead.

Libya’s instability, triggered by the fall of leader Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, has an impact beyond its borders, for Europe and for France, and for African neighbors. Macron’s bid to work toward laying the groundwork for a state with a functioning government and institutions is a priority of his presidency.

For French officials, the time is ripe for forward movement in the search for a resolution to the Libyan crisis. Sharing the international spotlight with Macron, elected less than three months ago, could boost the resolve of the Libyan rivals to seek a way out of their impasse.

Serraj and Hifter met in early May in Abu Dhabi, and the United Arab Emirates said later there had been a “significant breakthrough.” Libya TV said the men agreed on holding presidential and parliamentary elections next year in the fractured country.

Paris has made clear that the French initiative is not meant to brush aside numerous initiatives by others, including the European Union, the African Union and individual countries, like Morocco. Elaine Ganley, Paris, AP