Libya: an Egyptian delegation visits Tripoli
Libyan Peace Conference in Berlin, January 19, 2020 (Photo illustration) Bundesregierung / Guido Bergmann / Handout via REUTERS
Text by: RFI Follow
5 mins
Is Egypt playing a new score in Libya?
In any case, Cairo - Marshal Haftar's support in recent years - has been rebalancing its positions for several months and exchanging more and more with the GNA, the government of Tripoli.
An Egyptian delegation went there on Sunday, December 27, for negotiations, a first since 2014 which illustrates the priority given by Egypt to diplomacy.
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Consolidation of the cease-fire;
security cooperation, in particular in the maritime field;
the upcoming reopening of air links between Cairo and Tripoli and perhaps soon the Egyptian embassy, closed for six years ... There were many topics of discussion on Sunday, especially between the Egyptian deputy director of intelligence and the Libyan minister of Interior and its head of General Security.
The exchanges continued, this Monday, December 28, during a telephone exchange between the head of the Egyptian diplomacy and his counterpart of the GNA.
A trend towards standardization
After several months of military calm, the trend is therefore towards normalization with the authorities in Tripoli, in parallel with the ongoing inter-Libyan negotiations, under the aegis of the UN.
This is a fundamental rapprochement despite the exchange of invectives this weekend between
Khalifa Haftar and the Turkish Minister of Defense
, also passing through Libya, on Saturday, on the eve of the delegation. Egyptian.
Turkey has solidified its military presence in Libya in recent months.
The Turkish Foreign Minister says in Jeune Afrique that Ankara "
saved Libya from chaos
".
The Turkish parliament has just extended the deployment of its men in the country by 18 months.
What to think of this Egyptian visit to Tripoli?
Is there a real change of strategy on the part of Cairo on the Libyan issue?
Joined by RFI, Jalel Harchaoui, researcher at the Swiss Institute Global Initiative, believes rather that Egypt, often put forward by the United Arab Emirates as support of Marshal Haftar, is in fact finding a path more favorable to its own interests in namely, the way of diplomacy.
Discussions therefore, first with Tripoli, soon awaiting direct discussions with Turkey.
Jalel Harchaoui, researcher at the Swiss Institute Global Initiative
Francois Mazet
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Egypt
Libya
Diplomacy