Turkish Intelligence Chief Hakan Fidan made a political reconciliation between Khaled al-Mashri, president of the Libyan State Council, and Abdel Hamid al-Dbeibeh, head of the interim Unity Government, during a surprise visit to Tripoli.
In parallel, disagreements resurfaced between Al-Mashri and Aqila Saleh, the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
On Tuesday evening, the head of Turkish intelligence met separately with Al-Mashri, Mohamed al-Menfi, president of the Libyan Presidential Council and Dbeibeh, before holding a meeting at the house of Dbeibeh’s brother-in-law, in the presence of General Othman Itaj, the commander of the Turkish forces in western Libya, Al-Mashri, Dbeibeh and Abdullah Al-Lafi.
Local media published photos of the meeting, which is considered the first of its kind in months between the head of the interim Unity Government and the president of the Libyan State Council, due to the recent escalation of a dispute over Dbeibeh’s rejection of Al-Mashri’s efforts to install a new government in cooperation with the House of Representatives.
The visit of the Turkish intelligence chief to the capital comes just days after a similar visit by CIA Director William Burns, in conjunction with Cairo hosting meetings between the various Libyan parties to draft a consensual law, paving the way for the holding of presidential and parliamentary elections.
Al-Munfi did not reveal any details about the meeting, which was attended by the head of the Libyan Intelligence Service, Hussein Al-Aib.
Dbeibeh, for his part, said that the meeting touched on files of common interests at the local, regional and international levels.
Al-Mishri emphasized “the depth of historical relations between Libya and Türkiye,” calling for the need for cooperation and coordination on bilateral and international issues and files of common interest.
In a statement on Tuesday evening on Twitter, Al-Mishri said: “Our hands are extended to whoever seeks consensus and stability.”
His tweet came only hours after Saleh warned members of Parliament in their session in Benghazi against war and increased foreign interference, “if we do not reach a solution to the crisis before next March.”
He announced a two-week deadline for representatives to form committees, including a committee to develop a vision for the constitutional rule.
