Egypt and Libya sit down to discuss peace agreements

Senior officials from the Government of National Unity (GNA) met with an Egyptian delegation in the Libyan capital on Sunday. After six years and considering that Egypt supports the rival camp in the Tripoli-based executive. Libya has been ruled since 2015 by two rival authorities, the ANG which has been recognised by the UN and supported by Turkey and a power embodied by Marshal Khalifa Haflar. As a result of Libya's fall into chaos and the fall of Muammar al-Qadhafi's regime.

Fathi Bachagha, the Libyan Minister of Interior, held a high level meeting with the Egyptian delegation. His ministry said in the statement that they also had the deputy director of intelligence services. In addition, Imed Trabelsi, head of Libya's General Security Agency, attended. The objectives of this meeting have been "the means to strengthen cooperation in security matters" at the same time as "support for the ceasefire", according to the minister.

An offensive in Tripoli by the forces of Marshal Khalifa Haftar in April 2019 led to a conflict with GNA. But they reached a UN-sponsored ceasefire in October this year. On Sunday, the two parties "examined the conclusions of the 5+5 joint military commission in support of UN efforts (...) for a way out of the crisis by political and peaceful means," according to the press release.

Mohamad Taher Siala, head of Libyan diplomacy, received the Egyptian delegation after six years since the last visit of an official Egyptian delegation to Tripoli. Egypt closed its embassy in Tripoli due to violence. Mohamed Elgablawi, spokesman for the Libyan Foreign Ministry, said on Twitter that the ultimate aim of the meeting is to "normalise diplomatic relations" between Tripoli and Cairo and to contribute to cooperation in various fields. According to Mr Elgeblawi, the Egyptian delegation undertook to reopen the Egyptian embassy as soon as possible and to re-establish air links between the two countries.

The visit took place following the threat of Khalifa Haftar on Thursday because of the presence of Turkish military in support of the ANG. As a response Hulusi Akar, the Turkish defence minister, during a visit to Tripoli on Saturday, promised that they will respond to any attack against the Turkish forces.