Shoukry: Egypt continues to adhere non-interference approach in solving Libyan crisis

CAIRO – 13 October 2020: Egypt continues to adhere to “Libyan-Libyan” solution away from foreign interferences, stated Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry during a tripartite meeting with his Jordanian and Iraqi counterparts Tuesday.

Shoukry cited the efforts exerted by the United Nations to support Libya, ensuring that Egypt confirmed the necessity of stopping hostilities, and not bypassing Sirte and Jufrah line in Libya.

He further explained that Egypt is looking forward to the Libyan crisis being resolved and a road map is drawn up so that Libyan people are able to achieve their will. He accused regional parties of pushing terrorists and militants into Libya to cause instability and insecurity.

In a joint press conference Tuesday, Shoukry said that the discussions tackled the importance of maintaining stability and non-interference in Arab affairs.

For his part, Jordanian Foreign Minister affirmed the existence of strong and well-established relations between the three countries, explaining that it is the nucleus of joint Arab cooperation.

He pointed out that there is consensus on establishing an industrial city after agreeing on the legal framework, ensuring that “installing an oil pipeline from Basra to Aqaba and then to Egypt is very important.”

“There is a great outlook for cooperation between the three countries in oil, energy and electricity sectors,” he added, stressing the importance of strengthening food and pharmaceutical security among the three countries.

He clarified that achieving a joint Arab security requires cooperation and integration, as he praised Egypt’s efforts to push forward a solution to the Libyan crisis. He also noted that the Palestinian issue was tackled during the meeting, where the trio supported activating a political process and efficient negotiations to achieve peace.

The Jordanian foreign minister also stressed that his country supports all steps taken by Egypt to protect its water security, especially the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

The Iraqi foreign minister noted that there will be another meeting to be held in Cairo between a number of concerned ministers from the three countries to activate what has been agreed upon in the leaders’ meetings.  

The three foreign ministers of Egypt, Iraq and Jordan discussed Tuesday joint agreements between the three countries.

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry received Tuesday his Jordanian counterpart Ayman el-Safdy and Iraqi counterpart Fouad Hussein at Tahrir Palace in Cairo.

The meeting comes to resume discussions of the agreements that the three states signed in August; boost efficient partnership and deepen coordination and strategic integration between the three countries o economic, developmental, political, security and cultural levels.

During a tripartite summit held in Amman at the end of last August, headed by King Abdullah II, and with the participation of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi, the leaders stressed the importance of strengthening cooperation and adopting the best ways and mechanisms to translate strategic relations on the ground.

The leaders highlighted areas of cooperation in economic, such as electrical connectivity, energy projects, and the common economic zone, especially in light of the global consequences of the emerging coronavirus pandemic on health, food and economic security.

During August’s summit, the leaders directed the relevant ministers to focus on the health and medical sectors, education, energy and intra-trade; encourage investment and economic cooperation, and benefit from the lessons of the emerging corona virus pandemic, in order to deepen cooperation in the face of the impact of the pandemic.

The leaders instructed the foreign ministers to set tasks entrusted to the executive secretariat, including the tasks of preparing for tripartite and ministerial summits, following up on their outputs, and submitting the necessary reports for leaders' meetings.