Meloni in Tripoli, contacts with Haftar. So the government moved on two Libyan fronts – Corriere.it

Melons

lands in Tripoli and stops. He sees the legitimate government but doesn’t stop in Benghazi, doesn’t see the General Haftar, the other strong leader of the African country. Apparently it may appear to be a political choice, for some it may be a tear, for others even the result of criticism of the mega contract between ENI and Noc. In this case, appearances are deceiving: the mission of the head of government in Libya has been thoroughly prepared both by our diplomacy and by our security apparatus, and what may seem like forcing is actually the result of talks and reports which have been weighed with extreme caution by the Italian government.

In the first version of her trip the Prime Minister (who for security reasons postponed his announced visit to Kiev by a few days) had also made arrangements for a face-to-face meeting with Haftar, the self-proclaimed head of the Libyan national army. Due to a series of unfortunate coincidences, however, at least as reconstructed by Italian sources, the general had to give up confrontation with Meloni for personal reasons: he is in Paris these days, undergoing a series of medical treatments. But contacts with our executive have never ceased and even the large contract signed by ENI for two offshore fields is only apparently disliked by a strong piece of local power. The new head of the NOC, the local energy company, which has been collaborating with our national giant since 1959, was also appointed by the legitimate government to do a favor for Haftar.

According to various sources who worked on the dossier, in fact, Farath Bengdara was wanted by the prime minister of the legitimate government to meet Khalifa Haftar, the general who controls the eastern part of Libya where various oil fields and large terminals are located. Even these dynamics, beyond the public controversies of the last few hours, would have armored the agreements and reassured the Italian government on the choice to confirm the mission despite Haftar’s absence.

The gas agreement signed by ENI and Noc a thousand per thousand in the interest of Libya, assured the prime minister of the national unity government of Tripoli, Abdul Hamid Dbeibahresponding to the criticisms of the agreement which also came from the Minister of Oil Mohamed Aoun, who deserted the meetings yesterday, and according to which the agreement is biased in favor of Italy. While the rival premier, designated by the Parliament of Tobruk, Fathi Basghaha, spoke of a mysterious deal. Criticisms that are classified as jealousies and local power dynamics.

Speaking on Libyan TV Dbeibah he said the conditions have been changed in favor of Libya, as we have reduced capital costs from 40% to 38%. While the president of the Noc, faced with threats from the rival government to turn to the magistrates, replied to Meloni that our work is legal, anyone who thinks it is not legal can go to court. In any case, yesterday’s agreement is another step in the massive process of investment and diversification of energy sources that ENI has accelerated since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. The deal is being billed as the largest investment in Libya’s energy sector in more than 25 years. With the potential to double current gas production, said Eni’s CEO. The important fact is that we will not only develop gas but we will capture the CO2 of these productions and we will also develop solar energy, he added. So in the future there are projects not only for the export of gas, but also for electricity to Italy by exploiting the Green Stream pipelines.