CAIRO: A four-day meeting of Libyan tribal leaders opened on Monday in Egypt which is exploring ways to unite warring parties and bring peace to its oil-rich neighbour.

Those attending the conference at a Cairo hotel were members of tribes that back the internationally recognised government based in the eastern Libyan city of Tobruk.

But representatives of tribes from Tripoli and Misrata were unable to attend “because they are under pressure from Fajr Libya,” said Mohamed Qassem of the eastern tribe of Al-Minfa.

The Fajr Libya coalition of militias seized Tripoli last year after weeks of bloody fighting with forces that support the recognised government, which then fled to the east of the country.

“The Cairo meeting is organised by the Egyptian authorities. We have nothing to do with it,” Hatem El-Ouraybi, spokesman for the Tobruk-based government, said.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry opened the conference, saying it would help Libya “get out of the current vicious circle of violence, conflict and terrorism”.

Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play