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Middle East

Strife-torn Libya's UN-backed leader meets Conte in Rome

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj arrives at Palazzo Chigi for a meeting with Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte, in Rome, Italy, Tuesday, May 7, 2019. (Riccardo Antimiani/ANSA via AP)

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    Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte, left, welcomes Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj as they meet at Palazzo Chigi, Rome, Italy, Tuesday, May 7, 2019. (Riccardo Antimiani/ANSA via AP)

ROME – Strife-torn Libya's UN-backed leader is visiting Rome in a bid to shore up support for his government in Tripoli that is under attack by rival militias.

Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj met Tuesday with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. It was his first visit to Italy since the self-styled Libyan National Army, under Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter, launched the drive on Tripoli in early April.

There were no statements to the press.

Libya slid into chaos after a 2011 uprising, in which rebels overthrew and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi and looted his vast arsenal.

Hifter, a military officer under Gadhafi who defected in the 1980s, now controls most of eastern Libya, including the country's main oil facilities, and has recently made inroads across the south.