Rival Libyan factions will resume on Tuesday their dialogue in an attempt to resolve their country’s crisis.
The second round of talks between the High Council of State and east-based parliament will resume at the Moroccan resort town of Bouznika.
Informed sources in Rabat told Asharq Al-Awsat that the talks were supposed to be held on Sunday but were pushed to Tuesday due to disputes over the agenda.
The talks will be held amid reports of differences among Moroccan officials over how to handle the file. Moroccan sources dismissed the claims as “foreign meddling aimed at scuttling Rabat’s role in resolving the Libyan crisis.”
They stressed to Asharq Al-Awsat that all Moroccan state institutions were in agreement on how to approach the crisis.
Magnus Norell, Adjunct Scholar at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in Washington, had recently spoken of the “silent role” played by Moroccan intelligence over the years in combating terrorism and preventing human and drug trafficking to Europe. This experience can help in reaching an agreement between the rival Libyan parties.
The Libyan conflict cannot be separated from its regional environment, he explained.
Meanwhile, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Tuesday’s talks will seek to reach an agreement on uniting Libyan eastern and western state institutions. This will be followed by the formation of a government of experts and the restructuring of the Presidential Council. The talks will culminate in the signing of an agreement over the first rounds of talks at Bouznika that concluded earlier this month.
Many observers believe that Government of National Accord (GNA) chief, Fayez al-Sarraj’s decision to step down from his post in October will help the Morocco negotiations.
Separately, Egyptian and Libyan sources said that Egypt hosted, UN-sponsored preliminary talks between the Libyan National Army and GNA.
The meeting at the resort town of Hurghada was aimed at paving the way for the resumption of the Geneva dialogue between the warring parties as part of the 5+5 Libyan Joint Military Commission. The talks will also tackle the security and military arrangements for the strategic city of Sirte.
Despite the optimism of Egyptian authorities that a breakthrough can be achieved, Libyan sources accused Turkey of attempting to undermine the negotiations by pressuring the GNA to commit to its demand for the military to pull out of Sirte and al-Jufra and transform them into arms-free zones.
The LNA, meanwhile, refuses the participation of GNA forces in securing the “oil crescent” region.
