Salah Al-Namroush, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Defense of the Libyan National Accord Government, said that Sirte and Al-Jafra are two Leptitans, and that the government is moving towards extending control over the entire Libyan soil, after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi waved direct military intervention in Libya.
He added that Libya is a sovereign country represented by the presidential council of the Al-Wefaq government in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions.
Al-Nimroush said that whoever wanted to secure his interests with Libya "let him come from the gate of legitimacy, not by displaying frames and fueling chaos", as he put it.
The Libyan official indicated that the Security Council reports confirmed the involvement of Arab countries in the attack on the capital, Tripoli.
Messages and invitations
For his part, Colonel Muhammad Qanunu, a spokesman for the government forces, sent a strong message to Cairo.
Kanunu said that he advised "whoever wastes time by sending messages that do not exceed his ears, to pay attention to the terrorism that threatens him within his territories."
Kanunu called not to bid according to his expression, "because history and reality say that the Libyan army is the one who eliminated the first state of the organization of the state outside its field," calling on those who speak to him to be inspired by experiences and lessons from that.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi threatened, in his statements, two days ago, with military intervention in Libya, and said that "exceeding Sirte or Al-Jafra is considered a red line for us."
During a visit to the Egyptian military in a speech broadcast on Egyptian television, he considered that any direct interference from the Egyptian state has international legitimacy, whether within the framework of the United Nations charter regarding the right to self-defense or based on the sole legitimate authority elected by the Libyan people, The House of Representatives, he says.
Condemn and reject
Officials in the National Accord government denounced Sisi's statements, saying that they violated the UN Charter.
The Presidential Council of the Al-Wefaq government also described the statements of the Egyptian President as unacceptable and reprehensible, and said it was "a hostile act and a declaration of war."
In a statement, the council rejected the infringement of Libyan sovereignty, whether through Sisi's statements or the support of what he described as revolutionaries, militias, and mercenaries.
The statement added, "Some countries turned to talk about political solutions and the public threat of military intervention, after they stood idly by the aggression of retired Major General Khalifa Hifter and his supporters."
Earlier, the commander of the Sirte-Jafra Operations Room, affiliated with the Libyan Accord Government, Brigadier General Ibrahim Bait Al-Mal, said that the threat of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to military intervention in Libya is merely statements of domestic consumption in his country, adding that Sisi is unable to implement these threats.
Discussions with AFRICOM
Meanwhile, the Al-Jazeera correspondent in Libya, quoting official sources, said that the commander of the American Military Command in Africa (AFRICOM), General Stephen Townsend, will meet with the President of the Presidential Council of the Al-Wefaq Government, Fayez al-Sarraj, the Minister of Interior, and the leaders of the military areas in Zuwara, west of Tripoli.
The sources added that the meeting will discuss field developments, especially in Sirte, Al-Jafra and the Russian presence on Libyan soil.
About a month ago, the US military command in Africa published steady images of Russian war fighters, which were recently deployed in Libya in order to support the military operations of elements of Wagner's company fighting alongside the forces of retired Major General Khalifa Hifter against the forces of the reconciliation government.
Then, General Stephen Townsend said, the warplanes were sent from Russia to Libya via Syria after their paint had changed from Russian to another camouflage color.
The American general indicated that these fighters will be led by Russian mercenary pilots to bomb the Libyans.