By Stanley Ugagbe
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt’s threats of military intervention has come under serious scrutiny in Libya as the nation has adjudged his comments to mean beating drums of war.
The Nigerian Canadian News gathered that El-Sisi had warned forces loyal to the Government of National reconciliation (GNA), based in Tripoli not to go through the current front line between them and forces loyal to renegade commander, Khalifa Haftar, including the Cairo back.
The number one citizen of Egypt, who visited an air base in Matrouh near the Libyan border, had hinted at the possibility of sending “external military missions if necessary,” adding that “any direct intervention in Libya has already become legitimate at the international level”.
Reacting to the President’s remarks, Abdurrahman Shater, a member of the GNA-allied Libyan High Council of State, noted that his country’s security and democracy are in danger since el-Sisi insisted on the implementation of the military troops as the Libyan people have not accepted this.
In a statement, Shater said “El-Sisi speech in front of a crowd of his army near the border is to beat the drums of war. Egypt intervened for four years, he denied it and affirmed that his concern for Libya’s security.
“In libya, the security has been in danger since Egypt’s insistence on undermining democracy and the installation of a military of which the master we have already rejected and brought back. Take your hands off of us. And do not repeat your tragedy in Yemen”.
In his words, Shater said the President of Egypt told his army to “be ready to carry out any mission inside our borders, or, if necessary, outside of our borders”.
He warned that “Sirte, and Jufra are a red line”.
According to local reports, forces loyal to the RNG, which is chaired by the Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, are the engine of Haftar, the so-called Libyan National Army (LNA) from large swathes of territory in the west of the country, as well as strategic towns near the capital, Tripoli.
It was noted that GNA forces have launched a campaign moving towards the east, the capture of the Mediterranean, the city of Sirte, forces loyal to Haftar, who has been forced to offer a cease-fire after facing a series of setbacks in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, the cease-fire, supported by Cairo, has been rejected by the GNA and its ally Ankara, who, recently demanded that the LNA withdraw from Sirte.
President El-Sisi emphasized that “any direct interference of Egypt [in Libya] has now acquired an international legitimacy with the right of self-defence or at the request of the only legitimate, elected authority in Libya, which is the House of Representatives [Tobruk].”
The Nigerian Canadian News learnt that with Turkish support, the GNA has reversed a 14-month assault on the capital by forces loyal to Haftar, who is backed by Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.
Multiple reports have it that both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have expressed their support for the Egyptian president statements.
As at the time of filing this report, it was said that the LNA still controls the east and the south of Libya, including most of the countries, petroleum facilities, and the city of Sirte, in the center of a recent military escalation.
