Haftar left Palermo after attending mini-summit: Libyan media

CAIRO - 13 November 2018: Libyan Military Commander Khalifa Haftar left Palermo after attending a mini-summit on the sidelines of the Libya Conference, according to Libyan local media reports.

Haftar was seen shaking hands with Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj. The mini-summit was attended by the presidents of Egypt and Tunisia, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, UN special envoy for Libya Ghassan Salame', the first Russian and Algerian ministers, European Council President Donald Tusk and French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

"President Sisi exerted strong pressures on Haftar to convince him to attend the mini-summit, separate from the conference program," according to the Italian news agency, Aki.

Sisi was in Palermo for the conference, along with officials from western countries, Arab states and Russia. Sisi and Libyan Military Commander Khalifa Haftar both skipped the opening dinner on Monday evening, according to Reuters.

"Haftar had flown to the conference on Monday evening and was holding meetings on the sidelines, despite having said he would not participate. A photo showed him meeting Sarraj in the presence of Italy's Conte," Reuters disclosed.

Italy hosts a conference seeking to reconcile Libya's rulers a week after the United Nations shelved plans to hold an election in December.