BENGHAZI (Libya), June 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The speaker of Libya’s eastern-based Parliament Aguila Saleh urged Egypt to intervene militarily if the forces from the internationally-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) attack the strategic city of Sirte.
An Egyptian intervention in Libya would be “legitimate … if the terrorist and armed militias crossed the red line”, Saleh told MENA news agency.
“The Libyan people are officially asking for Egypt to interfere with military forces if the necessities of maintaining Libyan national security and Egyptian national security require this,” he added.
Sirte is the traditional boundary between Libya’s west and east and a key gateway to the country’s main oil fields in the east held Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA).
Since May, the GNA has taken the strategic al-Watiya airbase south of Tripoli; Bani Walid in the country’s northwest; and a day after the city of Tarhuna, Haftar’s last stronghold in northwestern Libya and Tripoli International Airport.
Libya’s GNA rejected Egypt’s invitation to a ceasefire, denouncing that calls for peace talks were made by Haftar’s forces. Earlier in the week, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi called on the GNA to stop its counteroffensive against Haftar’s forces east of the capital, Tripoli, threatening military intervention and criticizing Turkish involvement in Libya.
Diplomats say a new battle for Sirte could still be avoided, particularly if Turkey and Russia can hash out an agreement.
Russia said Tuesday that it wanted a ceasefire in Libya and denied a U.N. report last month that said it had up to 1,200 mercenaries fighting in the country.
Libya descended into chaos in the wake of the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted and killed longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi. Thousands of people have been killed in sporadic fighting since 2014 between factions in the east and west. — NNN-AGENCIES