During Egyptian President Abdel-Fatah El-Sisi’s meeting with Libyan tribal leaders on Thursday, he confirmed that Egypt “will not stand Idly” in the face of any threats to the security of Egypt and Libya.
This statement came two days after the call by the Libyan House of Representatives (HoR) for Egypt to intervene militarily in Libya to “defend the national security” of both countries, stressing the importance of joining their efforts to “defeat the Turkish occupier”.
“Egypt will intervene at the Libyans’ request and will withdraw upon their order… Egypt will not allow Libya to become a new hotbed for terrorism or outlawed elements, even if it means that Egypt has to intervene directly in Libya,” El-Sisi stated.
In conjunction with El-Sisi’s statements, a spokesman for the Egyptian Presidency, Bassam Rady, said on his Facebook page that “Libyan tribal elders expressed their full mandate to the President and the Egyptian armed forces to intervene in Libya to defend its sovereignty and take all measures to protect the national security interests of Libya and Egypt”.
Rady’s post added that “this came as a confirmation of the Libyan parliament’s call for Egypt to intervene militarily to defend the Libyan people and preserve the unity and integrity of the country”.
The Presidential Spokesperson also said during media statements on Thursday that the situation in Libya was complicated at the international level because of the conflict of interest in the crisis.
He pointed out that the speech made by President El-Sisi confirms the legitimacy of an Egyptian military intervention to maintain its national security.
“The armed forces destroyed 10,000 SUVs on the Egyptian-Libyan border loaded with terrorists and fighters over 6 years… With an estimated four terrorists in every car, approximately 40,000 terrorists have been killed,” he added.
Radi said that Egypt secured its 1,200-km border with Libya independently, without backing from any other country.
On 20 June, El-Sisi warned advancing forces aligned to the Government of National Accord (GNA) that Egypt would intervene militarily in the conflict. The Egyptian President said in a speech at a newly inaugurated military base in western Egypt that “the Sirte or Al-Jufra line, this is a red line for us”.
He commented during Thursday’s conference that “the red lines that we announced are a call for peace and an end to the conflict in Libya”.
On 11 July, the Egyptian army conducted military exercises dubbed “Hasem 2020”, which included formations of the navy, air force and special forces in the western border regions between Egypt and Libya.
Libya has been marred in violence between competing forces, militias, and extremists since the toppling and killing of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The conflict now pits the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) against the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, for control of the country.