The French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian visited Libya on 4 September, meeting first with GNA PM Fayez al-Serraj as well as Abdulrahman Swelli, head of the parliamentary council in Tripoli. The FM is set to visit Misrata and Benghazi later in the week and will speak with rival factions during the trip, including LNA Commander Khalifa Haftar and the heads of the eastern based parliament.
This can be seen as an extension of Emmanuel Macron’s push for a deeper French role in bringing Libyan factions together with the prospect of ending militant violence and easing Europe’s migrant crisis which began with breakthrough talks between Serraj and Haftar in Paris this summer. A French diplomatic source said that “the minister wants to consolidate this agreement by getting the parties not invited in July to support it,” and that the visit was intended to dovetail with efforts by U.N. Envoy to Libya Ghassan Salamé to announce a road map to elections during the coming U.N. General Assembly.