During the joint meeting with the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, Shoukry added that there is complete consensus on the necessity of holding the Libyan elections on time, and the departure of foreign forces so that stability returns to the country.
Cairo and the Gulf states attach great importance to the issue of removing foreign forces and mercenaries from Libya and adhering to the road map, which was previously confirmed by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in all his meetings with international officials.
Over the past ten years of the Libyan crisis, Egypt and the Gulf states played a pivotal role through international institutions in supporting a political solution and a ceasefire among the Libyan people.
On the importance of this role, political researcher Tamer Abu Jameh said, in statements to “Sky News Arabia”, that “Cairo and the Arab Gulf states harnessed their skillful diplomacy in weaving threads supporting the Libyan national solution, and the beginning was from rejecting foreign military interventions, and holding a ministerial coordination meeting that included The foreign ministers of France, Greece, Cyprus and Italy, and thus Cairo considered that what is happening in Libya is a regional matter, not a local conflict.
Cairo also actively participated in the Berlin Conference to resolve the Libyan crisis, which was held on January 19, 2020, and stressed at the time that no one had any interest in Libya turning into a country hijacked by crises and riven by conflicts, and becoming a source of terrorist threats.
Abu Jameh highlighted Cairo’s continuous efforts with the support of the brothers in the Arab Gulf, which included participation in ministerial meetings throughout the year for the countries neighboring Libya, which were held alternately between Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria.
In the same context, the head of the National Security Committee of the Libyan General National Congress, Abdel Moneim Al-Yasir, thanked the political leadership and the Egyptian and Gulf people for the sincere efforts that have been made and are still being made to support Libya’s stability.
Al-Yasir praised, during statements to “Sky News Arabia”, the Egyptian diplomacy in particular, and the Arabs in general, which spared no effort to resolve the Libyan crisis, citing Cairo’s efforts at the ministerial meeting of the International Follow-up Committee emanating from the Berlin Summit on Libya, as well as supporting the cease-fire agreement. The permanent firing reached by Libyan officials in the Geneva talks.
Adopting political initiatives
Over the past five years, Cairo received all the Libyan factions and stood at the same distance from the warring parties, and everyone discovered that Egypt had no ambitions in Libya. This is how political analyst Tamer Abu Jameh described the recent years of Egyptian efforts in Libya.
He added that Cairo is now reaping the fruits of its efforts by holding the national elections on their scheduled date on December 24, based on the laws approved by the Libyan Parliament, as an important and landmark step for Libya’s transition to a new reality and a sustainable political system based on the will of the Libyan people by their free choice.
With the support of its brothers in the Arab Gulf, Egypt has worked to find common ground among all Libyans with the aim of helping them reach an integrated national executive vision that addresses the roots of the political, economic and security crisis that Libya has been suffering from since 2011.
The most prominent of these efforts was the launch of the “Cairo Declaration” initiative in June 2020 as a Libyan-Libyan initiative to resolve the crisis within the framework of the United Nations efforts.
Following the “Cairo Declaration”, the Egyptian leadership worked to intensify contacts and meetings with all relevant international parties to resolve the crisis to build on the initiative. It also urged all parties inside Libya to return to the negotiating track, restore Libyan will and sovereignty to the Libyans themselves, and confront all forms of foreign interference.
Countering outside interference
On the issue of confronting foreign interference, Al-Yasir praised the Egyptian “skill” and Arab solidarity in order to protect the capabilities of the Libyan people and prevent their robbery from external forces.
Al-Yasir said: “The Egyptian strategy towards the Libyan crisis started from the base of a common destiny and history. Cairo has always been a support for the Libyan people and a safety valve, as Cairo affirmed its full commitment to implementing the economic reform agenda to ensure optimal utilization of Libya’s resources, in order to meet the hopes of its people.”
Al-Yasir indicated that the Egyptian efforts did not stop at diplomacy only, but also included the economic and military aspects, assisting the Libyan army in building its capabilities and unifying its capabilities, and helping to get rid of terrorist outposts, in addition to emphasizing the need to pay attention to the equitable distribution of wealth, to achieve comprehensive development in all regions and regions. Libya, boosting the economy.
The head of the National Security Committee of the Libyan General National Congress pointed out that the soft power enjoyed by Egypt helped push forward the political process in Libya, which has now reached the gateway to the first electoral entitlement.
On the same subject, Abu Jameh said that Cairo worked from the first moment to confront the attempts of external parties and their internal arms aimed at draining Libya’s capabilities, as well as to address all proposals that included imposing solutions on the Libyans.
He explained that the Egyptian diplomacy succeeded in completing the reconciliation between the Libyan parties through the rounds of hosting a large number of influential Libyan personalities from all Libyan regions, to complete reconciliations at the national level between the parties.
With the approach of the first electoral entitlement in Libya, Egypt’s vision for Libya is still searching for a political solution, supported by a Libyan national vision, that preserves the capabilities of the Libyan people, preserves its territorial integrity, and rejects any external dictates.
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