Benghazi displaced reject Saleh’s Cairo peace call​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Benghazi’s municipal leadership has issued a direct challenge to efforts to move Libya’s reconciliation process abroad, rejecting House Speaker Aguila Saleh’s proposal for Cairo-based negotiations.

In a significant development for Libya’s fragmented peace process, the Benghazi Municipal Steering Committee branded the proposed Egyptian talks as an “unconstitutional overreach” that undermines national sovereignty. This stance highlights growing tensions between local governance structures and national political figures.

The dispute centres on competing visions for resolving the status of displaced citizens and managing post-conflict justice. At its core lies a power struggle between House Speaker Saleh and Al-Siddiq Haftar, son of eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar, over the direction of eastern Libya’s reconciliation approach.

The Committee’s intervention raises critical questions about the legitimacy of externally-hosted peace initiatives. Their statement emphasises that the UN-backed Presidential Council holds sole legitimate authority over national reconciliation efforts, as established by the Geneva framework.

Municipal leaders outlined concrete prerequisites for meaningful reconciliation: the release of Operation Dignity-related detainees, removal of political security restrictions, and restoration of property rights to displaced residents. These conditions directly address unresolved issues from eastern Libya’s 2014 conflict.

The Committee’s position reflects broader concerns about the internationalisation of Libya’s domestic affairs and emphasises the need for locally-driven solutions to national challenges.

Libya’s reconciliation efforts have faced repeated setbacks since 2020, with competing political factions attempting to control the process. The Geneva agreements established the current political framework, though implementation remains contested.