By Ajnadine Mustafa.
Tripoli, 7 May 2016:
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi has said that the UN arms embargo on Libya needs to . . .[restrict]be lifted so that the Libyan army can fight terrorism effectively.
He was speaking during a meeting today in Cairo with Libyan Presidency Council head Faiez Serraj and three of its deputy leaders: Musa Koni, Ahmed Maetig and Fathi Majbri.
The fight against terrorism was the main subject of the talks although other issues were discussed including the implementation of existing political and economic agreements and the security of Egyptian workers in Libya. In the case of the latter, though, Serraj pointed out that Egypt’s citizens in Libya would be secure when there was security for everyone in the country.
The visit by Serraj and the three leading members of the Presidency Council, is seen as a move by it to firm up Egyptian support.
It is not clear how far this has paid off. Stressing Egypt’s commitment to Libya’s security, stability, sovereignty and territorial integrity, Sisi also expressed his backing for the Libyan army saying that it and other national institutions had to be able to be effective throughout all Libya and that it had to have the arms it needed to fight the terrorists. However, he also insisted that Egypt was committed to the Skhirat agreement and the Presidency, wishing it success.
For his part, Serraj thanked Egypt for its efforts to ensure stability in Libya, saying that the planned Government of National Accord was committed to working with its neighbours to defeat terrorism, in particular the so-called Islamic State.
The talks also involved Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry who on Thursday met with Koni in Cairo to discuss ways Egypt could help ensure the success of the Government of National Accord. t [/restrict]
