Following a recent trip around Libya, new UN envoy Ghassan Salame has made steadfast strides towards the near impossible task of getting the multitude of international actors behind his new Libyan roadmap for political unity. On 15 September, the UN Security Council issued resolution 2376 extending the UN Support Mission in Libya’s (UNSMIL) mandate for another year, highlighting the key role that Salame and the UNSC hope UNSMIL can play in the next few months.
On 14 September, Salame briefed the foreign ministers of America, Britain, Italy, the UAE, Egypt and France in London at the talks organized by British FM Boris Johnson. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson encouraged speedy elections in Libya, but Johnson cautioned against rushing them. Following the London meeting, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry stated that all participants agreed on the importance of Salame’s efforts, but that Egypt will continue to bridge the divide between Libyan factions on the civil and military levels.
On 15 September, GNA Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Metig was in Moscow to meet with Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov to discuss Russia’s role in Libya. Metig also met with the president of the autonomous province of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov. The same day Salame briefed the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow.
On 16 September, Khalifa Haftar visited Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo, for talks with Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso on the Libyan conflict. Haftar had been invited to attend an African Union (AU) summit on Libya in Brazzaville in early September, but declined the invitation. On 18 September, Haftar met with the Tunisian President President Beji Caid Essebsi in Tunis to discuss the situation in Libya. Libyan officials had said, however, that the real reason for Haftar’s visit to Tunis was to meet with the US ambassador to Libya, Peter Bodde, who had met with Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj just two days prior.