Egyptian, Libyan Chiefs Of Staff Meet

The Egyptian army’s chief of staff met his Libyan counterpart on Wednesday to discuss the latest developments in Libya, a day after reports surfaced claiming that Egypt – along with the United Arab Emirates – was behind a series of airstrikes against Islamic militants in Tripoli.

Egypt’s Lieutenant General Mahmoud Hegazy and Libya’s Major General Abdel-Razik Al-Nazouri also discussed bilateral relations between the two countries and cooperation between their armies.

On Tuesday, Libya’s foreign minister, Mohamed Abdel-Aziz, announced in a press conference that Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi had offered to train Libyan police and army units inside Egypt.

The two countries’ foreign ministers on Monday announced an Egypt-sponsored initiative to bring stability to Libya – including an unspecified plan to disarm the warring militias that have caused the worst violence in the oil producing country since the 2011 uprising which ousted longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

The meeting between Hegazy and Al-Nazouri comes after US officials claimed on Tuesday that Egypt and the UAE were responsible for last weeks’ airstrikes against several militia strongholds in the Libyan capital as part of efforts to prevent them from seizing the airport.

Islamist militias eventually defeated pro-government ones earlier this week and took control of the airport.

Egyptian officials have denied the claims of military involvement in Libya.

Source : Ahram online