On January 24th, the Italian special envoy for Libya, Nicola Orlando, held “several fruitful meetings in Tripoli to discuss current developments and support for the elections“, the Embassy of Italy in Tripoli announced on Twitter.
Together with Ambassador Giuseppe Buccino, Nicola Orlando met with Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dabaiba, Foreign Minister Najla al Mangoush, the President of the High Council of State, Khaled al Mishri, Vice President Abdullah al Lafi and the Governor of the Central Bank of Libya, Sadiq al Kabir.
Mr.Orlando’s trip to Tripoli came only a few days after his visit to Cairo, Egypt, where he met with Amb. Ahmed Abdel-Meguid, the Egyptian government’s envoy for Libya, and Amb. Mohamed Sarwat Selim, the Foreign Minister’s advisor for the Middle East. In Cairo, Mr. Orlando had a “fruitful and open discussion over the Lybian political and security process”, as he later described it in a Tweet.
During the meeting in Tripoli, Prime Minister Dabaiba said that “the Government of National Unity continues to support all efforts aimed at holding the election“. The Libyan Prime Minister also stressed that the country “has witnessed a great change after the appointment of the Government of National Unity, with steps forward in the stability and the economic revival of the country“.
Talking to Mr. Orlando, Vice President Al Lafi reiterated the need to hold Libyan elections this year, in addition to the importance of continuing with national reconciliation efforts of the Presidential Council.
The Italian envoy reiterated that his country was looking forward to seeing the Parliament’s roadmap that should pave the way for holding elections, saying Rome was closely watching the situation in Libya and had always been keen on its stability and sovereignty.
“Italy wants to help Libya end its transitional period and enter the phase of an elected president by the people” he added.
