Libya's Bashaga, Top Egyptian Delegation Discuss Steps on Reopening Embassy in Tripoli

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th February, 2021) The interior minister of Libya's Government of National Accord (GNA), Fathi Bashaga, has discussed with a high-level Egyptian delegation arrangements toward the reopening of the Cairo embassy in the capital of Tripoli, the GNA Interior Ministry said on Tuesday.

Earlier in the week, a GNA Foreign Ministry spokesperson told Sputnik that an Egyptian delegation was set to arrive in the Libyan capital on Monday to participate in the resumption of embassy work following a six-year hiatus over the Libyan internal crisis.

"Interior Minister Fathi Bashaga discussed with a high-ranking Egyptian delegation arrangements on the reopening of the Egyptian embassy in the capital of Tripoli. The Egyptian delegation led by Ambassador Mohamed Tharwat, director of the Egyptian foreign minister's office, expressed its country's congratulations on the selection of a new executive authority in Libya and its keenness toward the security and stability in Libya," the ministry said in a statement on its Facebook page.

During the visit, the Cairo delegation added that practical steps had been taken on the restoration of embassy work in Tripoli, and that it valued the efforts made by the interior minister to provide security across Tripoli and other Libyan cities.

Bashaga, in turn, commended the delegation's visit in order to enhance security cooperation between the two countries in a way that serves the common interest.

Since the overthrow and assassination of Libya's long-term leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the North African nation has been split between two rival governments, known as the GNA and the Libyan National Army, that have been in control of the country's west and east, respectively.

In early February, the UN-led Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) elected an interim caretaker authority to take charge until a national general election scheduled for December 24. The LPDF picked Mohammad Younes Menfi, a former GNA ambassador in Greece, as the new head of the Presidency Council, while Mossa Al-Koni, a representative of Libya's south, and Abdullah Hussein Al-Lafi, a representative of the west, became his deputies. Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah was elected prime minister.