Egyptian President, Abdel-Fatah El-Sisi said that Cairo is working to resolve the Libyan crisis through negotiations and peaceful methods, and avoiding a military escalation.
This comes as Egypt hosts the third round of Libya’s constitutional track talks.
“We are trying to ensure that things do not escalate, and become difficult.” He added that there are efforts to resolve the crisis “through the constitutional track and the 5 + 5 talks. As well as to encourage the brothers in Libya to understand that Libya’s interest is greater than any other interest.”
The Egyptian President added that “we must at least keep things from escalating and sliding into an armed confrontation, and return to the conditions that existed in 2019 and 2020. So far, we are controlling these matters through our efforts with our brothers, and are following this file. The minimum is that there should be a truce, and there should be no internal fighting because this represents a threat to us.”
“Can we witness a real breakthrough for Libya? It is possible when the intentions and the will are clear, and this is not much to ask for,” he asked.
Notably, Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry, called for concerted international efforts to withdraw all mercenaries, foreign forces, and foreign fighters from Libya.
During a joint press conference in Cairo with his Latvian counterpart, Edgars Rinkēvičs, Shoukry said that the presence of foreign forces in Libya restricts the freedom of the Libyan people to determine their future.
Shoukry also stressed the importance of holding general elections in Libya as scheduled. He affirmed the need to reach a Libyan-led solution, away from foreign interference.
The Egyptian FM stressed the need to take into account the decisions of the Libyan Parliament regarding the executive authority.