Egypt discuses measures to counter national security threats

CAIRO, 2 January 2020: President Abdel Fatah al Sisi discussed on Thursday, number of measures to counter any threats to the Egyptian national security as a result of the recent development in the Libyan crisis and rising threats of a foreign military interference in Libya.

During meeting of the National Security Council, several other vital issues were discussed including current talks to reach an agreement between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia on the Renaissance Dam.

During the meeting, the council asserted Egypt's keenness on reaching out an agreement on the filling and operation of the dam in a way that takes into consideration the interests of the three countries on equal footing as well as opening the door for cooperation and development in all fields.

Earlier on Thursday, Turkey’s Parliament voted for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s proposal to send Turkish troops to Libya, which is expected to deepen the Libyan crisis and mount tensions in the Middle East and North Africa.

Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which constitute the majority of the Parliament, supported the bill, while the opposition, the Peoples' Democratic Party and the Republican People's Party stood against it.

The bill, which aimed to give one-year mandate to Erdogan to send troops to Libya, says the objective of sending troops is to “protect” the Turkish national interests against security risks posed by “illegal armed groups in Libya," in indication to the Arab-supported Libyan national army led by Khalifa Haftar.

Egypt strongly condemned, the Turkish parliament approval of a memorandum of understanding presented by the Turkish president to send military forces to Libya.

The Foreign Ministry affirmed in a statement that the MoU, inked between Chairman of the Libyan Presidential Council (PC) Fayez al Sarraj and the Turkish government on security and military cooperation, is ‘null and void’.

The Ministry’s statement highlighted the blatant violation of the Turkish parliament’s move to all the international accords and UNSC resolutions, especially 1970 resolution, issued in 2011, which created Libya Sanctions Committee and banned any arms supply to and military cooperation with the war-torn North African country unless such actions were approved by the committee.