[2] Organized by Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte,[citation needed] it was attended by delegations from 38 countries, including Russia, the United States, Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, as well as representatives of many rival Libyan factions fighting for power in the country.
[citation needed] Attendants included Libyan prime minister Fayez al-Sarraj,[citation needed] Libyan field marshal Khalifa Haftar,[2] Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi,[2] Tunisian president Beji Caid Essebsi,[2] Qatari Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani,[citation needed] Libyan parliamentary speaker Aguila Saleh,[2] and Khalid al-Mishri[2] speaker of the upper chamber in the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
Turkey's delegation, headed by Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay, withdrew from the conference on 13 November as a result of the exclusion of Turkish officials, on Haftar's insistence, from a private meeting between the conflict's key players.
[4] Haftar, who had made a surprise visit to Moscow earlier that month, was initially reluctant to attend the Palermo talks.
adding that the event constituted Italy's attempt to take a leading role in the Libyan peace process.