Afrasianet - The Italian news agency Nova has unveiled a new political proposal aimed at ending the years-long division in Libya, according to which Saddam Haftar, the deputy commander of the Libyan National Army and son of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, will assume the presidency of the Presidential Council to succeed Mohamed al-Menfi, while Abdelhamid Dbeibah will retain his position as prime minister of the Government of National Unity, to remain at the head of the unified executive authority.
The agency reported, citing informed Libyan sources, that the plan came as a result of a series of informal meetings held in Rome during September 2025 and then resumed in Paris in January 2026, mediated by Massad Boulos, the US special envoy for North Africa and the Middle East in President Donald Trump's administration.
Representatives of the East and West camps, including Saddam Haftar, and advisers close to Dbeibah such as National Security Advisor Ibrahim Dbeibeh, participated in these meetings.
The proposed plan aims to form an interim unified executive authority, transcending the current division between the internationally recognized Government of National Unity in Tripoli and the Government of National Stability in the East, which is backed by the House of Representatives and Libyan National Army forces led by Khalifa Haftar.
According to the sources, this arrangement is seen as a compromise that gives the Haftar family a higher symbolic and political role in the Presidency Council, which represents the head of state, while Dbeibah retains effective control over the government and executive and financial institutions.
A Complex Political Crisis
Libya has been politically and militarily divided since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011, and has worsened after 2014 with the emergence of two rival governments: the Government of National Unity in Tripoli headed by Abdelhamid Dbeibah since 2021, recognized by the United Nations, and a parallel government in the east backed by the House of Representatives and Khalifa Haftar's forces, which effectively control most of the east and south.
Recent months have seen an escalation in informal contacts between the two parties, especially after the Trump administration's return to power in January 2025, as envoy Massad Boulos stepped up his efforts to push forward an agreement focused on economic and security stability, including consolidating oil revenues and participating in reconstruction projects.
The meetings in Rome in September 2025 and Paris in January served as secret channels to discuss power-sharing, amid joint Franco-American support, and Italian interest in energy stability and curbing illegal immigration.
