The eastern Libyan-based parliament passed a motion authorizing neighboring Egypt to directly intervene militarily in the country’s war if necessary to counter Turkey’s support for the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA).
The corps in Tobruk supports renegade commander Khalifa Haftar, who fought a 14-month, ultimately unsuccessful campaign to seize the Libyan capital Tripoli from the GNA.
After months of impasse, Turkish military support helped the GNA change the course of the conflict in recent weeks and oust the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) from Haftar, backed by Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Russia, from northwestern Libya.
The battle lines have now solidified near Sirte, a central coastal city seen as the gateway to Libya’s main oil export terminals.
In a resolution passed Monday night, Tobruk’s parliament authorized “the Egyptian armed forces to intervene to protect the national security of Libya and Egypt if they see imminent danger to our two countries.”
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said last month that Egypt could send troops to Libya, warning GNA forces not to cross the current front line between them and the LNA. In response, the GNA said it viewed el-Sisi’s comments as a “declaration of war.”
On Tuesday, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash wrote on Twitter: “The drums of Sirte’s war in Libya threaten serious events and dangerous humanitarian and political consequences.”
“We in the United Arab Emirates call for an immediate ceasefire and for wisdom to prevail,” he added, and called for an inter-Libyan dialogue “within clear international frameworks.”
It came a day after Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu dismissed the prospects of any impending ceasefire in Libya, saying Sirte and the Jufra airbase further inland were due to surrender to the GNA before agreeing to a truce. .
“There are preparations for an operation, but we are testing the (negotiating) table. If there is no withdrawal, there is already a military preparation, they [GNA] it will show all the determination here, “Cavusoglu told state broadcaster TRT Haber.
Libya, a major oil producer, has been in chaos since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising that overthrew and killed ruler Muammar Gaddafi.
Since 2014, it has been divided between rival factions based in Tripoli and in the east, in a sometimes chaotic war that has attracted outside powers and an avalanche of weapons and foreign mercenaries.
Control over oil, the main source of state revenue, has become the biggest prize in the current conflict, and eastern forces have imposed a blockade on production and exports since January.
Under international agreements, only the Tripoli-based National Petroleum Corporation (NOC) has the right to produce and export oil, while revenue must flow to the Central Bank of Libya, also located in the capital.
On Friday, international diplomacy led by the United Nations and the United States appeared to have ended the oil blockade when a first tanker was allowed to dock at Es Sider and load with stored oil.
However, the LNA said Saturday that it was reimposing the blockade, a decision that the NOC blamed the UAE.
The United Arab Emirates said it wanted a rapid resumption of Libya’s oil exports, but only if certain conditions were met.
SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
.
