Tripoli, June 17: Internationally recognized Libya’s Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj has on Sunday said he was not ready to hold negotiation talks with commander Khalifa Haftar to put an end to the two-month-long offensives against Tripoli.
According to Reuters news reports, his comments suggested low prospects for a truce in Libya in a spat for the nation’s coastal capital, where the PM and his administration are situated.
In the latest turmoil since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the commander’s Libyan National Army (LNA) force stepped up its presence to take control over Tripoli despite battling that has caused a crisis in the southern suburbs, as well as, displaced tens of hundreds of people.
In Tripoli, in an interview, Serraj said, “I will not sit down again with this person because what he has done in past years shows he won’t be a partner in the political process.”
Serraj met with Haftar at least six times in the past few years, since Serraj assumed the office in 2011.
The latest meeting between both held in Abu Dhabi in February, as world powers sought to mediate an agreement between the western administration and the rival eastern.
Serraj said his troops from the armed groups in the western cities would continue to defend against Haftar, whom he sees as the same dictator like Gaddafi.
“Our primary military goal is to defend Tripoli,” he said. “In the coming days, there will be positive news … progress,” he said, without giving further details.
Earlier on Sunday, Serraj also proposed to prepare for the elections by the end of the year to a national conference. “Libyans should meet to overcome this struggle for power,” Serraj said.