On Saturday, the Commander-in-Chief of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, held a meeting in the Al-Rajma area of Benghazi with Major General Abbas Kamel, Chief of Egyptian General Intelligence Service.
In a statement on its Facebook official account, the General Command said that all files of common interest between Egypt and Libya were discussed, in addition to all common issues related to joint national security.
During the meeting, Kamel praised the LNA’s efforts in fighting terrorism and arresting locally and internationally wanted criminals. He reiterated Egypt’s appreciation of Khalifa Haftar’s positive role, who in turn offered his sincere thanks to the Egyptian leadership, army and people, for their prominent role in supporting all Arab issues in general and the Libyan crisis resolution in particular.
Egypt is adopting a strategy of opening up to all Libyan parties supporting a political solution, as part of its support for efforts to defuse the crisis in the country.
Egypt earlier announced an initiative, dubbed the Cairo Declaration, which posits a Libyan-Libyan resolution as a basis for resolving the country’s conflict, drawing on earlier international efforts, including the Berlin conference.
On September 22, the Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi addressed several ongoing topics during the speech he gave at the United Nations’ 75th General Assembly, which was held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic.
President Sisi said that his country is committed to a political solution for the current crisis in Libya, based on the Skhirat agreement, the Berlin conference and the Cairo declaration, which all call for a schedule for establishing a consensual government in Libya.
Libya has been in chaos ever since the 2011 overthrow and killing of Dictator Moammar Gadhafi in a NATO-backed uprising, with warring rival administrations battling for power. Libya has also become a key route for irregular migration from Africa into Europe across the Mediterranean Sea.