Egypt pledges support for Libya’s interim government

ISTANBUL

Egypt's president on Wednesday pledged that his country would support the interim executive authority in Libya.

Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s promise came during two separate phone talks with Mohammad Menfi, the head of the Libyan Presidency Council, and interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh to congratulate the two officials for forming the temporary executive authority in the country, according to the Egyptian presidency.

"The selection of the new Libyan leadership marks the beginning of a new era for the work of all Libyan state institutions," Al-Sisi told Menfi, stressing that Egypt will "continue to provide support and assistance to the Libyan brothers on the economic, security and military levels."

The Egyptian president also confirmed in a phone call to Dbeibeh his country's readiness to "continue to meet all the needs of the Libyans to restore stability and complete the Libyan state administration mechanisms."

Recently, Egypt's position on the Libyan crisis witnessed a remarkable shift, after years of providing military and logistical support to renegade general Khalifa Haftar, the stance the legally recognized Libyan government has long denounced, considering it one of the causes of the ongoing political crisis in the country.

An Egyptian security and diplomatic delegation visited the Libyan capital Tripoli in December last year, and later received Libyan government officials, ending a break in visits that had continued since 2014.

Egypt is also hosting the constitutional path dialogue meetings sponsored by the UN, one of the tracks for resolving the Libyan crisis.

According to observers, Cairo is seeking to search for new partners who are not affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood group in the western region of Libya, after its ally Haftar failed to win militarily over the Libyan army, despite the great support provided by several major and regional countries.

Last Friday, Libya's rival political groups agreed to form an interim unity government to lead the country until elections in December.

The Libyan Political Dialogue Forum in Geneva announced the victory of a list to temporarily manage the country until presidential and parliamentary elections on Dec. 24, which included Menfi as the head of the Presidency Council along with Musa al-Koni and Abdullah Hussein al-Lafi as members of it and Dbeibeh as prime minister.

Libya has been suffering from an armed conflict for years, as Haftar's militia fought against the internationally recognized government for authority, causing civilian deaths and injuries, along with massive material damage.