Khaled al-Mashri, head of the Supreme Council of State in Libya, said that the Skhirat agreement is the only political reference for the solution in the country, while Egypt started to mobilize its armed forces near the Libyan border.

In a press conference with the President of the Chamber of Advisors in Morocco, Hakim Bin Shammas, held after their meeting, Al-Mishri explained that all initiatives and agreements that do not contradict the Skhirat agreement are acceptable.

Al-Mashri, who is officially visiting Morocco at the invitation of the Speaker of the Parliament, said that the bilateral meeting dealt with the latest developments in the Libyan crisis, in light of the clear progress of the reconciliation government on the ground.

Al-Mashri described the foreign interference as negative, indicating that the National Accord government will not deal with retired Major General Khalifa Hifter, but with all parties that derive from the political agreement in Skhirat.

Developments and initiatives

In a joint press conference with the Speaker of the Parliament held in Tobruk Aqila Saleh, Speaker of the Moroccan House of Representatives Habib Al-Maliki said that Morocco is following developments in the situation in Libya, and that all the initiatives that were presented to resolve the crisis do not contradict the Skhirat agreement.

Al-Maliki added that the repercussions of the situation in Libya are reflected in the region, and that Libya's security and stability are important to the region's security.

For his part, Aqeela Saleh said that there was no meeting between him and Khaled al-Mashri, and added that he asked Morocco to support efforts to reach a solution to the Libyan crisis with the aim of forming a new executive authority to take over the affairs of the country for an interim period until organizing elections and drafting a constitution.

This came during a meeting with Al-Maliki and Saleh in the capital Rabat, which the latter is conducting an official visit to hold talks with officials in Morocco about the latest developments in Libya and finding a way out of the crisis in the country.

Morocco continuously affirms its adherence to the Skhirat political agreement as a basic reference for dealing with the armed conflict in Libya

In December 2015, the two parties to the Libyan conflict signed a political agreement in the Moroccan city of Skhirat, which resulted in the formation of a presidential council leading the Al-Wefaq government, in addition to the extension of the parliament and the establishment of a higher state council, but Haftar has sought for years to block it and topple it.

Discussions and positions

In parallel political developments, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry held talks in Cairo with his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan, on the crisis in Libya and common issues between the two countries.

In joint press statements absent from the developments of the Renaissance Dam file, Shukry said that his country seeks to achieve peace and stability in Libya, but there are still no mechanisms to implement a political solution in the country in exchange for the expansion of the foreign fighters area, as he put it.

For his part, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan said that Saudi Arabia supports the Egyptian position on Libya. He stressed the need to keep Libya out of what he called external interference.

Since 2011, Libya - which has the largest oil reserves in Africa - has witnessed a conflict between two authorities: the internationally recognized government of national reconciliation from the United Nations based in Tripoli, and Major General Khalifa Hifter, who controls the east of the country and part of the south and is supported by the elected parliament based in Tobruk.

Many parties entered the Libyan conflict streak. On the one hand, they support Haftar: Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Russia, while Turkey supports the government of national reconciliation.

And last week, the Egyptian parliament agreed that the army would carry out "combat missions" abroad, which means a possible military intervention in Libya, after the Libyan House of Representatives supporting Haftar announced that it permitted Egypt to intervene militarily "to protect the national security" of the two countries.

# Military_ Spokesman: Lieutenant-General / Mohamed Farid, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, witnesses the procedures for the alignment and combat readiness of members of the armed forces, on the western strategic direction. pic.twitter.com/Wo7egVBHrO

- Military Spokesperson (@EgyArmySpox) July 27, 2020

In related developments, the Egyptian military spokesman, Tamer Al-Rifai, published photos that he said were measures of alignment and combat readiness of the armed forces personnel on the western strategic direction, Egypt's borders with Libya.

The pictures showed members of the Egyptian armed forces and a number of military vehicles.

Earlier, a statement by the Egyptian army stated that the Army's Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Mohamed Farid, continued the readiness of his combat units on the "strategic western direction", that is, towards the Libyan border.

The statement said that the Egyptian military readiness comes within the framework of strict Egyptian measures, to protect its borders on all strategic directions by land, sea and air.