On 25 September, the head of the Government of National Accord (GNA), Fayez al-Serraj, gave a speech at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. Serraj stated he would never sit at the negotiating table with Khalifa Haftar, the head of the Libyan National Army (LNA), whom he described as a “war criminal” and not a “partner for peace”. He accused Haftar of carrying out a failed coup in an attempt to militarize the Libyan state and said he held all those who support him morally and legally responsible for the crimes and deaths committed.
On 25 September, a few hours after Serraj’s address, the LNA General Command released a statement claiming it had “always called for peace” and democratic process, saying “we need dialogue”. It claimed to have called for presidential and parliamentary elections and responded positively to any initiative that would implement this, citing both high level meeting in Abu Dhabi, Paris and Palermo. However, the statement stressed that dialogue was “not possible so long as terrorist groups and criminal militias control Tripoli.”