Sisi Says Egypt 'Won't Stand Idle' on Security Threats from Libya
Egypt's president said Thursday that his country "will not stand idle" against threats to the national security of Egypt and Arab countries, in a meeting with tribal leaders from eastern Libya.
His comments came days after the eastern-based Libyan parliament, aligned with strongman Khalifa Haftar, gave in-principle support to a threatened Egyptian military intervention in the country.
Since 2015, a power struggle has pitted the U.N.-recognized, Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) against forces loyal to Haftar, who is based in eastern Benghazi.
The strongman is mainly supported by Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Russia, while Turkey backs the GNA.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Egypt "will not stand idle in the face of any moves that pose a direct threat to the national security not only of Egypt but also that of Libya" and the region, according to a presidency statement.
Egypt's president made the remarks during a meeting in Cairo with tribal leaders from the eastern city of Benghazi.
The tribal leaders "declared that they fully authorize the president (Sisi) and the Egyptian armed forces to intervene to protect Libyan sovereignty", the statement added.
Last month, Sisi had warned that advances by forces loyal to the GNA could prompt an Egyptian military intervention.
He threatened to send in his army if GNA forces captured Sirte, located more than 800 kilometres (500 miles) from the Egyptian border.
The GNA, which has been pushing to take the strategic city from Haftar, denounced Sisi's statements as a "declaration of war."
Cairo considers that a push on Sirte -- a gateway to key oil fields -- would be tantamount to crossing a "red line" and has called for talks between Libya's rival factions.
Ankara and the GNA have called on Haftar to withdraw from Sirte and negotiate a ceasefire.
Egypt's efforts on the Libya crisis seek "to activate the free will of the Libyan people for a better future," Thursday's statement said.
In June, Cairo proposed a peace initiative calling for a ceasefire, withdrawal of mercenaries and disbanding militias in the neighboring country.
The GNA and Ankara dismissed the plan, which Sisi unveiled with Haftar at his side.
Libya has been mired in chaos since the 2011 uprising that toppled and later killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
17 July 2020, 19:31
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The Sisi, a giant "land aircraft carrier" shaped like a pyramid, reaching some 400 feet into the air and carrying a complement some six dozen "death-gliders", is posed to roll out of its factory tomorrow. The massive warship-of-the-desert is propelled by 1.2 million "guest-workers" and rides on reinforced-steel rollers that, as the aircraft carrier rolls forward and off a given roller, are hastily lugged around to the front and laid down so the Sisi can continue its voyage into history.
19 July 2020, 19:21
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I didn't read this article all the way through. This is Russia's first big mistake.
19 July 2020, 21:48
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I did some reading online and recant my position on Russia. The killing of Chris Stevens by a takfiri group fits the idea that Qatar and/or other takfiri regimes were behind the uprising in Benghazi. Stevens was, a UPI man told me, the State Department's liaison with takfiri groups. I finally found the claim that he and 23 CIA agents were in Benghazi to buy back Libyan weapons from the black market. He was not an ambassador. Tripoli was and is the capital, where ambassadors go.
Hillary Clinton said about Gaddafi on CBS TV, "We came, we saw, he died, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha." She and a few friends destroyed Libya.
Haftar being able to take almost all of the country suggests he is right to say the Tripoli regime, despite "international" backing, is not legitimate.
The best plan would be demilitarization, but who will enforce it?
19 July 2020, 21:52
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Why would a takfiri group which was a proxy for Qatar, the GCC, or even directly the US, kill the US field boss? A dispute about wages?
19 July 2020, 21:57
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So what is Turkey, i.e., Erdogan, doing in Libya. This smells like NATO, which did Clinton's dirty work in Libya, or its main dogs did the work wearing NATO perfume. NATO tells Erdogan he can go on bombing Kurds, preventing coups, etc., as long as he props up the obviously--by this line of reasoning--unpopular government in Tripoli.
Why does NATO support that regime? Racism is fundamentally laziness. NATO wants to forget about destroying the Libyan state, find someone else to blame for Libya's troubles, someone who won't make trouble, someone who will flounder around and make Libyan disorder look like it was caused by Libyans.
I suspect Russia is backing the winning side. I suspect the Turkish military thinks so, too.
