The Minister of the Interior, Matteo Salvini, interviewed by Rtl 102.5, about the Libyan crisis and the secret negotiation, which the newspaper "La Repubblica" talks about, between Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and a delegation of General Haftar, said: "If Conte meets all the parties involved, I can't tell you yes or no, but if he does, he is right to do so".
"La Repubblica", through the app, "free" Flightradar discovered that an Italian service aircraft, a Falcon 50 of the CAI - Italian Aeronautical Company - yesterday at five in the afternoon he headed from Rome-Ciampino to Libya. He landed in Benghazi, where the headquarters of Kalifa Haftar, the strong man of Cyrenaica, is located. Haftar and his delegation embarked to fly to Rome by the Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.
The Aise - Foreign Information and Security Agency - is closely following the Libyan dossier and these days it is moving relentlessly in all the capitals of the area. While Italy remains alongside President Serraj, the only authority recognized by the United Nations, it cannot neglect the presence and power on Libyan territory of General Kalifa Haftar.
The point is that a strange competition of external actors is also taking place in Libya. Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Emirates support Haftar while Qatar is alongside Tripoli.
Qatar, in order to demonstrate all its economic strength to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, managed to convince the Misrata brigades to side with Serraj.
Now Haftar has two possibilities: to retreat or trigger an unprecedented bloody war for the capture of Tripoli.
The Italian Prime Minister Conte, yesterday, was clear with Haftar: "if total war breaks out, there will be a harsh condemnation of the Italian government in all offices".
Italy has proposed its willingness to manage the resumption of peace talks under the aegis of the United Nations. Ensuring he listened to Haftar's requests, offering mediation with Qatar - where Conte was visiting a week ago - and with the militias that opposed the general. A proposal that is sought to be consolidated through ongoing contacts with the Emirati, Saudi and Egyptian authorities.
The situation on the ground
The 166th Brigade of the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by General Khalifa Haftar has announced the arrival of further military reinforcements in Tripoli to join forces fighting against militias loyal to Prime Minister Fayez al Sarraj's government of Libyan national accord. The battalion said in a press release today that a full brigade has departed from eastern Libya to head for Tripoli, adding that Haftar-led army units are making progress on the fronts towards central Tripoli. The Libyan National Army announced yesterday that it has taken control of the Yarmouk military camp, one of the largest camps in Tripoli, after entering the Ain Zara neighborhood and some neighborhoods south of Tripoli. Overnight, however, the Yarmouk camp (located 8 kilometers from the center of Tripoli) was captured by Sarraj's forces, according to the Arab news website "Al Khaleej Online".