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Libyan GNA Chief Agrees to Meet With LNA's Haftar Who Rejects Option - Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Fayez Sarraj, prime minister of the UN-backed Libyan Government of National Accord, agreed to meet with Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the rival Libyan National Army (LNA), but the latter has refused to attend such a meeting, media reported, citing diplomatic sources in the UN Security Council, on Saturday.
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Al-Jazeera reported, citing sources, that Sarraj had agreed to meet with Haftar in Geneva given the clashes in Libya have been halted.

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The broadcaster added, that UN Special Representative Ghassan Salame had informed the UNSC that he would talk to Haftar later on Saturday and would meet with Sarraj, too.

The situation in Libya escalated on Thursday when Haftar ordered an offensive to retake Tripoli from the GNA-backed forces. The LNA has already recaptured a number of settlements on its way to the capital, while Sarraj has ordered his troops to use force if necessary.

The escalation caught UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on his trip to Libya as part of the UN-led efforts to boost the political settlement of the Libyan conflict.

On Friday, Guterres met with Haftar and then left Libya.

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Meanwhile, the Health Ministry of the Tripoli-based Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) said in a statement, shared with Sputnik, that it had held an emergency meeting with local hospitals regarding the preparedness of their ambulance services to provide assistance to the public amid the escalation of tensions in the Libyan capital.

"An emergency meeting held by Deputy Health Minister Mohamed Haitham Issa and a number of directors of major hospitals, specialising in ambulance services in Tripoli, has just started … This meeting is held to consider the readiness of ambulance departments in the hospitals and cope with any emergency shortage that might happen in the future", the press release on the meeting, held on Friday, read.

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