Libyan commander Khalifa Hifter is in Paris Wednesday May 22, 2019 for meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron amid growing international concern about his month-long offensive to take Libya’s capital Tripoli. During a more than hour-long closed door meeting, Macron asked Hifter to work toward a cease-fire and a return to the political process, according to a statement from Macron’s office. The closed-door meeting came two weeks after Macron hosted Libya’s struggling U.N.-backed prime minister, who has denounced Hifter’s offensive as an attempted coup. “Sarraj is the legitimate prime minister of Libya and Hifter ... is an essential actor in the Libyan crisis,” the official said. Hifter used the meeting to justify his offensive on Tripoli, the official said, but added that the Paris meeting was able to advance the situation.

Source: Libya Today May 22, 2019 10:33 UTC