International actors

US Special Operations forces captured 2012 Benghazi Special Mission attack suspect Mustafa al-Imam in Misrata on 29 October. It is reported that Imam was flown to a US Navy vessel and will be transported to the US to face federal prosecution for his alleged involvement in the 2012 attack. On 30 October, the third round of ‘Libyan-Libyan’ meeting between LNA and Misrata military officers was held in Cairo as part of the talks to reunify the Libyan army.

On 22 October, the second batch of meetings in the UN-facilitated Libyan political talks concluded without setting a plan or agenda for the next gathering. Salame insists that in spite of controversy over ‘bottle neck’ issues, there was progress made in the latest discussions. On 23 October, the Egyptian military reported that its air force struck a convoy of eight vehicles carrying munitions near Egypt’s western border with Libya.

On 15 October, the UN Support Mission in Libya’s (UNSMIL) new Joint Drafting Committee, including members of both the House of Representatives (HoR) and the High Council of State (HCS), met again in Tunis to negotiate amendments to the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA). In particular, they debated the final draft articles concerning the appointment of the Prime Minister (PM), the Government and the new Presidential Council (PC).

Ghassan Salame met with the Khalifa Haftar, in Benghazi on 5 October, a day after the UN representative met with Ageelah Saleh, leader of the HoR. Following the meeting Salame confirmed that Haftar has stated his support for the new UN roadmap for Libya. UNSC affirms that it “Endorses the UN’s Action Plan for the resumption of an inclusive Libyan-owned political process. Prior to this announcement, the UNSC extended its authorization to seize vessels suspected of smuggling and human trafficking through Libya until fall of 2018.

On 26 September, US Africom conducted ‘two precision airstrikes’ against ISIS fighters some 160 kilometres southeast of Sirte, killing an unspecified number of ISIS fighters. On 30 September, the UN’s Joint Drafting Committee declared it had reached the first set of agreements on amendments to the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA) in Tunis, as Haftar visited senior officials in Italy and France.

On 20 September, Salame outlined the proposed new UN roadmap for Libya at a high level meeting on Libya at UNGA. The roadmap consists of a 3 stage process: limited amendments to the LPA, a National Congress Conference of all Libyan actors to agree and endorse the new government and constitutional amendments, and finally a referendum and elections.

On 15 September, the UN Security Council issued resolution 2376 extending the UNSMIL mandate for another year. On 14 September, UN envoy Ghassan Salame briefed the foreign ministers of America, Italy, the UAE, Egypt and France in London at the talks organized by the British FM. LNA Commander Haftar met with Congolese President, Denis Sassou Nguesso; Tunisian President, Beji Caid Essebsi; and US ambassador to Libya, Peter Bodde.

On 5 September, Italy’s Interior Minister Marco Minitti visited LNA Commander Khalifa Haftar in Benghazi just a day after the French FM Jean-Yves Le Drian completed his tour of Libya. The new UNSMIL chief Ghassan Salamé is said to be frustrated by the succession of independent bilateral attempts to broker a solution to Libya’s crises, particularly ahead of the UN General Assembly’s meeting on Libya on 20 September.

The French Foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian visited Libya on 4 September. A French diplomatic source said the visit was intended to dovetail with efforts by U.N. Envoy Ghassan Salamé to announce a road map to elections during the coming U.N. General Assembly.