France's Foreign Minister Jean Yves Le Drian is in Libya today for talks with rival political and military actors in the country’s western and eastern regions.

Like its EU allies, France has recently been pressuring Libya’s warring factions to set aside their differences, in the hopes that it will stem the flow of illegal migration from the North African state, and prevent a resurgence of extremist factions like the so-called Islamic State.

Libya is still suffering from deep political, military, and regional divisions, with two rival governments based in the east and the west of the country.

The internationally recognised authorities sit in the capital, Tripoli, where the French foreign minister started his visit before moving on to the western city of Misrata and then to the east of the country.

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In July, French President Emmanuel Macron brokered talks in Paris between the Libyan prime minister and his military counterpart Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, who commands forces in large parts of eastern and southern Libya.

At the end of those talks, they announced an agreement to call for a ceasefire, and to unify key institutions, despite the absence of other key factions that make up the complex web of rivalry.

Some EU member-states, and regional actors, including Egypt and the UAE, increasingly appear to be unilaterally chasing their own deals with various Libyan actors.