Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi said on 16 July at a meeting with Libyan sheikhs and elders that Egypt would quickly reverse the military situation in Libya if it sends troops to the North African country.

The Egyptian parliament has unanimously approved permission for a possible dispatch of the country’s troops to carry out combat missions abroad, state television reported.

The report comes after President Abdel Fattah Sisi said that Egypt “will quickly and decisively change the military situation”, in Libya, adding that the Egyptian Army is one of the strongest in the region and Africa.

Prior to this, Libya’s Tobruk-based House of Representatives, supported by the Libyan National Army (LNA), gave permission to the Egyptian Armed Forces to intervene in Libya if Cairo sees reasons for a pre-emptive strike against an imminent threat to the national security of the two countries.

Earlier in July, the Egyptian Armed Forces conducted an exercise near Libya’s border. The drills, code-named Resolve 2020, took place in the north-western district of Qabr Gabis, some 37 miles from the Libyan border.

In June, Sisi met with the LNA’s commander, Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, and the eastern parliament’s speaker, Aguila Saleh. After the meeting, Sisi announced the so-called Cairo peace initiative, which includes a ceasefire throughout Libya and the terms of a political settlement. The initiative was backed by Russia, the United States, and several Arab states, but was rejected by Turkey and its ally, the Government of National Accord (GNA).

Source: Sputnik