On Thursday, President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said Egypt will not stand idle if faced with any direct threat to Egyptian and Libyan security, reported Reuters.
The statement comes in after commander Khalifa Haftar’s ally lawmakers called on Egypt to intervene militarily in Libya’s civil war.
Egyptian presidency in a statement said that tribal leaders from Libya’s Haftar’s Benghazi informed President Sisi at a meeting in Cairo that they permit him and the Egyptian army to intervene in Libya “to protect Libyan sovereignty”.
Since 2014, Libya has been divided between an internationally and United Nations recognized government in Tripoli, backed by Turkey, and an eastern administration, supported by the UAE, Russia and Egypt.
To help fight Turkish support for Libya’s internationally recognized Tripoli government, the Haftar allied eastern-based administration called on Egypt this week for military support.
In a meeting with eastern Libyan tribal leaders supporting Haftar, Sisi “stressed that the red lines that he announced earlier… were basically a call for peace and to put an end to the conflict in Libya,” the presidency quoted him as saying.
“But Egypt will not stand idle in the face of any moves that poses a direct threat to the national security, not only the Egyptian and Libyan, but also the Arab, regional and international ones,” he added.
Last month, President Sisi stated Egypt’s army could enter Libya if the internationally recognized government and its Turkish allies recommenced an attack on the central Sirte-Jufrah frontline, which is the gateway to Libya’s main oil export terminals.
Over the years, in violation of an arms embargo, the international community has played a major role in Libya’s civil war by pouring in weapons and fighters in the region.
In June, President Sisi had stated that Egypt could act militarily as per the requests of the House of Representatives or based on the United Nations charter of a right of self-defense.