Powerful eastern Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar is expected in the Italian capital, Rome, late on Tuesday, Adnkronos has learned from Libyan sources.
Hafter last month snubbed an international conference in Palermo on stabilising Libya that aimed to support a new UN plan to unite the country's institutions and oversee an electoral process starting in the Spring.
But the military strongman attended talks on the sidelines of the Palermo conference with his main Libyan rival, UN-backed premier Fayez al-Sarraj and with Italy's prime minister Giuseppe Conte.
General Haftar, who leads a self-styled army, has repeatedly threatened to attack Tripoli and overrun the capital, where about 30 percent of Libyans live and where the UN-backed government is based.
However, Haftar appeared to offer an olive branch to his rival when he reportedly told Sarraj during their talks in Palermo: "You don't change horses in the middle of the river," which was interpreted by Italian officials to mean he would not topple him before elections next year.
Sarraj, who is believed to be backed by Russia, Egypt and France, blames the Sarraj government and Tripoli-based institutions of being at the mercy of rival militias. He has also called for a fair redistribution of the oil wealth in energy-rich Libya - a former Italian colony.
