The Libyan government of national unity (GNA), recognized by the UN, denounced Sunday as a "declaration of war" the threats of Egypt to intervene militarily in the conflict in neighboring Libya. This war of words took place two days before a ministerial meeting by videoconference of the Arab League on Libya, in which the GNA refused to participate. Originally scheduled for Monday, the meeting was postponed to Tuesday due to "technical problems , " according to a diplomat.
In the conflict in Libya, Egypt supports the forces of Marshal Khalifa Haftar, rivals of the GNA, supported by Turkey and based in the capital Tripoli. With military support from Ankara, the GNA has garnered significant victories since early June, taking control of the whole of northwest Libya. These successes signaled the failure of the offensive launched in April 2019 by Marshal Haftar to seize Tripoli. The forces of the GNA remain nevertheless slowed in their advance towards the city of Sirte, strategic lock towards the East, which they want to take again with the troops of the marshal Haftar, strong man of the east of the oil country.
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On Saturday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi warned that any advance by pro-GNA towards Sirte (450 km east of Tripoli) could lead to "direct" intervention from Cairo. "It is a hostile act, a flagrant interference and the equivalent of a declaration of war," the GNA denounced in a press release. "Interference in the internal affairs of the Libyan state and the attack on its sovereignty, whether by declarations (...) like those of the Egyptian president, or by support for the putschists, militias and mercenaries are unacceptable, " he warned.
Calling on the international community "to assume its responsibility in the face of this escalation" , the GNA declared itself "favorable to any impartial mediation under the aegis of the United Nations" and rejected "the unilateral initiatives of the outlaws" .
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Libya has been plunged into chaos since the fall of the regime of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 after a popular revolt. Since 2015, a power struggle has pitted the GNA against Marshal Haftar, who claims to hold his legitimacy from the elected parliament based in the East. Sirte, as well as Al-Joufra further south, represents a "red line" , warned Mr. Sissi on Saturday. If this line is crossed, it will result in "direct intervention" by Egyptian forces in Libya, he said. "The whole of Libya is a red line , " retorted the GNA. "Whatever the dispute between the Libyans, we will not allow our people to be insulted or threatened."
On the other hand, the elected head of the Parliament and based in the East, Aguila Saleh, defended in a press release the warning of Sissi, judging "necessary" an intervention of the Egyptian army "to support our armed forces in the face of terrorism and to foreign invasion . " For his part, the head of Jordanian diplomacy, Ayman Safadi, said he was in favor of a political solution in Libya and gave "his full support to Egypt in the face of any threat to its security and stability" , during a 'a telephone interview with his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Choukri.
