French President Emmanuel Macron waves from his car on the Champs Elysees avenue after the handover ceremony in Paris, France, May 14, 2017 (Photo: Reuters)
President Emmanuel Macron is hosting a meeting of the two main rival leaders of chaotic Libya, trying to play peacemaker in a country where the stakes are high for both Europe and Africa.
The series of meetings on Tuesday afternoon at a chateau west of Paris will bring together Fayez Serraj, prime minister of the U.N.-backed government, and Gen. Khalifa Hafter, Egyptian-backed commander of Libya's self-styled national army. Macron will be present, as well as the U.N.'s newly appointed special envoy for Libya, Ghassan Salame.
French officials hope the encounters will facilitate a political entente and end with a joint declaration stating, among other things, that there can be no military solution to the crisis that is boosting Islamic militants and traffickers preying on migrants, as well as instability across the region.
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