Decision comes as a blow to those hoping it would smooth path to democratic elections

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The United Nations has been forced to postpone a carefully planned and potentially watershed national conference on Libya’s political future after the assault on Tripoli by forces under the command of the eastern warlord Khalifa Haftar.

The two-day conference in the town of Ghadames was due to be attended by 120 delegates on 14-15 April. The decision to shelve the summit is a blow to Libya’s democratic forces, who had hoped it might open a path to presidential and parliamentary elections by the end of this year.

Ghassan Salamé, the UN special envoy for Libya, said the UN intended to convene the conference as soon as conditions permitted, but it would be impossible to hold the talks “to the backdrop of artillery shelling and air raids”.

He said: “The renewed violence undermined the minimum confidence to launch any fruitful dialogue.”

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The announcement came as Libyan health officials said the death toll in Tripoli had reached 49 since the battle for the capital started in earnest last Thursday.

Both sides claimed military advances: Haftar’s Libyan National Army asserted they were making progress across seven fronts mainly in the south of Tripoli, but the spokesman for the UN-recognised government of national accord (GNA) said Haftar’s forces were being pushed back.

Analysts said Haftar had been expecting that more forces in the west of the country, including some Tripoli militia, would desert the GNA’s prime minister, Fayez al-Sarraj. Haftar has billed his campaign as an effort to drive out Islamist militias that use corruption and violence to control the GNA.

However, Haftar’s critics claim he has no interest in democracy and say he launched his assault just as Salamé’s peace plan was reaching a critical stage.

The success of Haftar’s gamble may depend on the degree of private pressure exerted by his allies including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and France.

Britain, the “penholder” on Libya at the UN, was on Tuesday testing the possibility of pushing for a fresh UN security council resolution calling for economic sanctions against Haftar, which could lead to a Russian veto.

The UK foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, had calls with his French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian, and with the UAE’s foreign ministry.

France, which is under pressure to join the UK, Germany and the US in condemning Haftar’s actions, issued a statement saying the French president had spoken with both Haftar and Sarraj.

The Élysée statement said Emmanuel Macron “recalled that there was no military solution to the Libyan conflict. It marked the imperative to act immediately to end the fighting and ease tensions. He gave his full support to the United Nations mediation efforts and called on all parties to return to dialogue.”

Le Drian said it was essential that talks were re-established on the basis of an agreement reached between Sarraj and Haftar in Abu Dhabi on 27 February, which reduced the size of the current nine-strong presidential council .

Salamé did little to hide his frustration at the fighting’s impact on his efforts to bring about political reconciliation. “We were surprised to hear the drums of war again with an unexpected attack,” he said.

In a Facebook message he continued: “We began to invite the Libyan personalities to attend the Libyan national forum, not to install a political elite, as some imagined, nor to share any cake, but to resolve the options among the Libyans and to ensure that the emerging formulas are fair to all Libyans and loyal to what came during the Libyan consultative process.”