On 25 September, the head of the Government of National Accord (GNA), Fayez al-Sarraj, gave a speech at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. Sarraj stated he would never sit at the negotiating table with Khalifa Haftar, the head of the Libyan National Army (LNA), whom he described as a “war criminal” and not a “partner for peace”.On 25 September, a few hours after Sarraj’s address, the Libyan National Army (LNA) - in its own English translation calling itself the “Libyan Arab Armed Forces” - General Command released a statement claiming the LNA “always called for peace” and democratic process and saying “we need dialogue". It claimed to have called for presidential and parliamentary elections and responded positively to any initiative that would implement this, citing both high level meeting in Abu Dhabi, Paris and Palermo. However, the statement stressed that dialogue was "not possible so long as terrorist groups and criminal militias control Tripoli." It also said Haftar hoped the special session to be co-chaired by France and Italy would come up with "proposals that serve Libya's interests and at the same time restore security and stability".Both Sarraj’s and Haftar’s statements indicate that despite some international momentum towards a peace process at present, the rival Libyan factions are not currently willing to engage in dialogue. However, given the significant international proxy element of Libya’s current conflict, the GNA and LNA positions and approaches to peace talks may shift if their international supporters can be prevented from supplying the arms, drones, and funds that are fuelling and sustaining the fighting on the ground.
Sarraj says won’t negotiate with Haftar; LNA says open to dialogue once ‘terrorists’ out of Tripoli