Paris Summit hopes to secure Libya elections by end of 2018

The conference will bring together Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, head of Libya's UN-backed unity government in Tripoli, and 75-year-old military strongman Khalifa Haftar, whose rival Libyan National Army dominates the country's east.

Representatives of 20 countries, including neighbouring countries, both regional and European powers, the US and international organisations are expected at the Elysee Palace.

The French presidency said on Monday that they hope the summit can secure "a collective commitment to do everything so that the elections are held by the end of the year".

The UN-backed conference hopes to secure both parliamentary and presidential elections in the North African country by the end of 2018.

Macron's office said Libyan leaders have agreed in principle to a non-binding accord.

Libya is split between rival governments in the East and West, each backed by an array of tribal militias.

Egypt, Russia and the UAE, who back General Haftar in the East, are also attending, as well as the UN Special envoy Ghassan Salame.

The summit includes a 13-point draft which hopes to cover a commitment to organise elections by the end of the year, to support the unification of the national army and a call for the immediate unification of the Libyan Central Bank.

The draft also warns parties hoping to obstruct or interfere with the voting process with possible international sanctions.

European leaders see stabilising the country as key to tackling the joint security and immigration threats, and Macron threw himself into finding a solution shortly after his election in May last year.

The 40-year-old French leader brought Sarraj and Haftar together in Paris where they agreed a ceasefire and to hold elections in 2018 - a move that irked the Italian government at the time which was blindsided by Macron's diplomacy.

The International Crisis Group warned on Monday evening, ahead of the conference, that it risks being "counterproductive" in its current form.

"Negotiating through individual personalities without ensuring a broader consensus across the political and military spectrum is likely to be counterproductive," the ICG said in a statement.

The think-tank pointed to the absence of a delegation from Misrata, which has the most powerful armed groups and the most influential politicians in western Libya.

UN special envoy for Libya, Ghassan Salame, has given up trying to implement a 2015 political agreement to set up a unity government, instead focusing on trying to hold elections as a way to unify the country.

Libya has been gripped by chaos since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, with rival administrations and multiple militias vying for control of the oil-rich country.