Foreign Ministry: Implicating Egypt in Libyan military offensive is unacceptable

Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Friday that it rejects attempts to implicate Egypt in Libya’s current anti-Islamist offensive, which is headed by a rouge military general.

The ministry’s response came as a reaction to allegations by Libyan and Egyptian Islamists that the leader of the military offensive, Khalifa Haftar, received direct military support from the Egyptian Armed Forces, claims that Libyan activists deemed mere rumors.

The statement clearly rejected all “internal and external attempts” to implicate Egypt in the current confrontation, adding that Egypt is working on ensuring the stability of the Libyan nation, as well as “achieving the aspirations and ambitions of the Libyan people.”

The statement referred to communication between Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nabil Fahmy and the foreign ministers of Russia, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, as well as United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, regarding the turbulent situation in Libya.

Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb had previously ordered the formation of a committee assigned with following up on developments on the Libyan front. The committee is headed by Defense Minister Sedky Sobhy, and includes the ministers of interior, foreign affairs, transportation, health, social solidarity and civil aviation.

The committee will oversee security preparations on the country’s western borders with Libya, as well as the safety of Egyptian expatriates in the troubled country.

In his first phone interview with the Egyptian satellite channel Al-Qahira Wal Nas, Hafter stated that he received no support from any country in the region, and that cooperation between Egypt and Libya is strictly limited to securing borders.

“We want to work on securing the borders so that no evil elements infiltrate the borders from either side,” he said.

In other remarks to the Russia Today satellite channel, Haftar said that he is paving the way for possible future cooperation between Egypt and Libya if favored Egyptian presidential candidate Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ascends to power.

Haftar said that he is willing to hand in fugitive leaders of the ousted Muslim Brotherhood group who are currently based in Libya to Egypt, praising Sisi’s role in intervening to end the rule of the ousted Islamist organization in Egypt.

He also referred to the possibility of military cooperation between Egypt and Libya to secure borders, stressing on Libya’s right to build a strong army that can support its neighbors.