'Egypt's stance on activating free will of Libyan people was clear since crisis began': Spox

CAIRO - 13 November 2021: Egypt’s position on the Libyan crisis was clear from its beginning, which is the necessity of activating the free will of the Libyan people through holding election, presidential spokesman Bassam Radi said on Friday.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi's speech at the Paris conference on Libya was comprehensive, the spokesman told MBC Masr TV’s Al Hekaya show.

The December 24 election is a turning point in the history of the peaceful settlement to the Libyan crisis and a key historic change, Radi added.

During the meetings we had in Paris there was great appreciation of Egypt’s wise and balanced policy under President Sisi in the Libyan crisis, he said.

“[The meetings] asserted that the red lines declared by President Sisi greatly helped in calming down the situation,” Radi said.

They also reaffirmed the international community’s will for the Libyan election to be held as scheduled, and for the foreign troops to leave the country as they undermine any chance for settlement and irresponsibly play with the capabilities of the Libyan state.

Sisi called, on Nov. 12, for setting a timetable for the withdrawal of all foreign troops and mercenaries that entered Libya after 2011.

He reiterated in his speech at Paris international conference on Libya that Egypt is willing to support the Libyan authorities to implement the 5+5 Joint Military Commission's plan in this regard, as well as uniting Libyan institutions and building capacities so that Libyans could preserve their wealth and be able to determine their fate.

Sisi also called on all parties inside and outside Libya to cease imposing the fait accompli policy, in addition to stopping to provide safe havens or any form of support for terrorist and extremist groups or transferring their members from one country to another, in order to bring Libya out of its crisis and alleviate the suffering of its people

The Egyptian President also called on Libyan parties to resolve all disagreements and expel all foreign troops from their country to build a free and independent state.

The Paris conference is organized by the United Nations, with attendance of regional and world leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron; Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi; Tunisian Prime Minister Najla Bouden; German Chancellor Angela Merkel; Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi; the UN envoy to Libya Ján Kubiš; the US vice president Kamala Harris; and Libya's Prime Minister Abdel-Hamid Dbeibah as well as the head of the country's Presidential Council, Mohamed Menfi.