Libyan factions meet in Malta for US-led high-level peace talks
A peace agreement looms but talks remain delicately poised with past near-agreements having collapsed
Updated 7.20pm
Senior figures from Libya’s rival eastern and western camps are meeting in Malta on Monday in what sources describe as a major attempt to ease tensions between the country’s competing power centres.
Two meetings are scheduled to take place in Valletta involving senior political and military officials from both sides of Libya’s long-running divide.
The first meeting brought together Ibrahim Dbeibah, a senior adviser and relative of Tripoli-based Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, and Saddam Haftar, the influential son of eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar and deputy commander of the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA).
A second meeting is expected to involve Haftar and Abdulsalam Zoubi, the deputy defence minister in Libya's internationally recognised Government of National Unity (GNU).
Sources said both meetings are being chaired by Massad Boulos, US President Donald Trump's senior adviser for Arab and African affairs, and Jeremy Berndt, the US chargé d'affaires to Libya.
According to sources, the Libyan officials also briefly met with representatives of the Maltese government, including Foreign Affairs Minister Chris Fearne and Deputy Prime Minister Ian Borg, during a break between meetings.
Neither the US Embassy nor the Libyan authorities have officially announced the meetings.
In a tweet, Fearne said Malta supports efforts that lead to lasting security and stability in Libya confirming he had discussed the political situation in Libya and the Mediterranean with Boulos and Libyan partners.
The United States has stepped up contacts with both eastern and western leaders in an effort to encourage political reconciliation and the unification of the country's fragmented military institutions.
Malta has long served as a neutral venue for dialogue on Libya because of its geographical proximity and close historical, political and economic ties with its southern neighbour.
Sources described Monday morning's discussions as encouraging, saying the two sides appear to be moving closer to an agreement. However, talks remain delicately poised, with past near-agreements having unravelled at the final moment.
Libya's long-running divide
Libya has remained politically fractured since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
The country is effectively split between two rival administrations.
In the west, the UN-recognised Government of National Unity, led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, governs from Tripoli.
In the east, military strongman Khalifa Haftar and his Libyan National Army maintain control over much of Cyrenaica and work alongside a parallel administration based in Benghazi.
Although a nationwide ceasefire agreed in 2020 has largely held, repeated efforts to hold national elections have collapsed, leaving Libya with competing governments, rival security forces and continuing disputes over control of state institutions and oil revenues.
In recent months, the US has intensified engagement with both camps. Boulos has held meetings with Haftar in Benghazi as well as with Prime Minister Dbeibah in Tripoli, while US officials have repeatedly stressed that unifying Libya's military institutions is essential for lasting stability and future elections.
No details have emerged about the agenda for Monday's meetings, although security cooperation, military integration and the wider political process are expected to feature prominently.