By Libya Herald reporter.
Tripoli, 27 July 2016:
A first step in efforts by the Egyptian government to mediate a solution to the Libyan political crisis appear to have succeeded with the arrival in Cairo of both the president of the House of Representatives (HoR), Ageela Saleh, and the head of the Presidency Council (PC), Faiez Serraj.
Serraj is reported to be accompanied by two PC deputy heads, Musa Koni and Fathi Majberi, as well as by his defence minister, Mahdi Al-Barghathi.
Ageela Salah arrived earlier in the Egyptian capital.
The Egyptian newspaper Al-Youm Al-Sabe’a has reported that the Egyptian initiative includes Serraj meeting Khalifa Hafter, whom it reported as having arrived in Cairo on Tuesday for talks with Egyptian officials. It also said that boycotting PC member Ali Gatrani would attend the talks. However, PC officials are said to be pouring cold water on a Hafter meeting.
The PC and HoR heads were both in Cairo in early May but Ageela Saleh refused to meet Serraj at the time.
Serraj flew to Cairo from Tripoli where he had a meeting with his interior minister, Arif Khojja, and security officials on the situation in the city. This was at the Bu Setta naval base where for security reasons, PC meeting are still taking place despite the prime ministry buildings on Railway Road having been handed over to Serraj.
He had earlier arrived back from the Arab summit in Nouakchott where he had separate discussions on the Libyan situation with Sudan’s President Omar Al-Bashir, the representatives of the Bahraini and Omani govenments, and the Speaker of the Algeria’s National Council Abdelkader Bensalah who was accompanied by the Algerian foreign minister, Ramtane Lamamra, and the Minister for Maghreb Affairs, African Union and Arab League, Abdelkader Messahel.
He also met French ambassador Antoine Sivan to make a formal protest at the French presence in the east of Libya.
