By Moutaz Ali.
Tripoli, 15 February 2017:
Presidency Council member Mohammed Ammari has protested that Faiez Serraj had headed to the Cairo for what turned out to be abortive talks with Khalifa Hafter without consulting his fellow council members. He had therefore been acting in a purely personal capacity.
Ammari’s salvo, which came today in a statement from his office, was not entirely unexpected. When Serraj and Hafter did actually meet in Marj in January 2016, Ammari, who is Minister for Specialised Council Affairs, briefly suspended his membership of the PC in protest.
The pro-Islamist Ammari said today that Serraj had broken the PC rules by not consulting his colleagues before his Cairo trip. He insisted however that he welcomed international and regional mediation in Libya but, clearly thinking of Egypt’s anti-Islamist stance, added that this mediation had to be neutral.
Ammari also warned that a settlement must respect the Libyan Political Agreement. “Any amendments to the LPA should be made using the processes that are in the agreement itself” he said, adding, in a clear reference to Hafter “ We will not recognise any attempt to bend the LPA in order to please someone”.
