By Libya Herald reporters.
Tunis, 16 September 2016:
Little information has emerged so far on today’s Cairo talks between Presidency Council head Faiez Serraj and House of Representatives’ president Ageela Saleh. The obvious subject would have been the size and complexion of the new cabinet that parliament has asked the PC to put together, having rejected the last two proposed ministries.
However Egyptian media have been suggesting that also on the table was the idea of an Armed Forces Supreme Council. Besides Serraj and his fellow PC member Ahmed Maetig, the council would also include Saleh and Khalifa Hafter, the newly-promoted field marshal and present armed forces commander-in-chief, as well as the PC’s Ali Gatrani who is seen as close to Hafter.
There is no provision for such a body in the Libyan Political Agreement. Indeed Article 8 vests control of the military in the hands of the Presidency Council. This measure requires a change to the Constitutional Declaration. It is this, as much as the make-up of Serraj’s Government of National Accord cabinet, that has caused many parliamentarians in Tobruk to delay a vote.
UNSMIL chief Martin Kobler this evening posted a photo of himself with Serraj. It is unclear if Hafter is also in Cairo. On Tuesday, Kobler told the UN Security Council that he wanted to meet Hafter and said that he believed that he had a role to play in the future of united Libyan army.
