By Moutaz Ali.
Tripoli, 3 July 2017:
An Misratan mission to Egypt has met a friendly reception and been told by Egypt’s Chief of Staff Mahmoud Hejazi that the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA) is the only basis for a Libyan solution.
A senior member of the Misratan delegation, House of Representatives (HoR) member Mohamed Raied told the Libya Herald that the meeting aimed to avoid further conflict and find a way out of the current crisis.
“Egypt is very serious in finding an end to the Libyan crisis” said Raied, noting one of the realities of the current crisis: “it has strong impact on the decision-makers in the east of Libya,” he said.
Ahead of the talks, Raied had said that he hoped that the Cairo meetings, which began on Friday, would help bring the eastern and western Libyan standpoints together.
The Misratan delegation was headed by State Council (SC) member Belgassem Igzeit.
An Egyptian army spokesman reported that in the meeting both sides underlined how vital it was to push the process forward and finally bring about a workable Libyan Political Agreement.
This was important because only then could Libya’s state institutions be reinforced and be able to work effectively, the Egyptin spokesman said.
Hejazi and the National Committee on Libya which he heads have long insisted that dialogue was the only way out of political stalemate. He urged those who were part of the new HoR-SC Dialogue to quickly get on track with talks.
In what could provide a significant step forward towards that goal, the Egyptians report that there will now be second meeting in Cairo involving the Misratans – this time with a delegation from the Libyan National Army.
