CAIRO: The head of Libya’s UN-brokered government and the country’s most powerful army commander, who is allied with rival authorities, are expected to meet to discuss a political settlement.

A spokesman for the unity government said on Tuesday that Fayaz Sarraj’s meeting with Field Marshal Khalifa Hafter could lead to a “180-degree turn”. The spokesman, Ashraf Al Tulty, said he hoped the Egyptian government will help bridge the gap. Egypt strongly supports Hafter.

Sarraj’s government has failed over the past year in unifying Libya, which slid into chaos after the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed Muammar Gaddafi.

Hafter is allied with the Libyan parliament, which meets in the east of the country and has rejected the UN-backed government, in part because of a dispute over his future role in the country.