Western powers meet Libyan PM over political standoffThe US, British and Italian foreign ministers began talks with Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Seraj on Monday to tackle a political standoff preventing Tripoli's U.N.-brokered unity government from expanding its authority outside the capital. Seraj and his two deputies met British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and their Italian counterpart, Paolo Gentiloni, at the British Foreign Office in London. Western powers are alarmed about resistance to Seraj and his Government of National Accord from the country's eastern military commander General Khalifa Haftar, who has blocked a parliamentary vote to endorse the GNA. The failure to appoint a finance minister has stalled economic decision-making in the major oil-producing country, an OPEC member. Monday's meeting was to try to address ways to tackle Libya's slide towards economic collapse.

Source: Libya Today October 31, 2016 12:20 UTC