Libyan interior security force arrives at Musaid border crossing with Egypt to impose security

CAIRO – 27 January 2020: A security force of the General Administration of Central Support at the Ministry of Interior of the Interim Libyan Government arrived at Musaid municipality in the east of the country to support the Agency for Combating Illegal Migration in carrying out its duties at the border crossing with Egypt.

This came to implement an order issued by Libyan Minister of Interior Ibrahim Bushnaf; the security forces arrived at the border headed by Director of the General Administration for Central Support Salah Al-Khafifi. They began to carry out their duties at the gate of the security post Al-Jarfan, and the road to the Musaid border crossing.

The Director of the Central Support Department in the Libyan Interior visited the Tobruk Security Directorate and discussed with officials the plan drawn up by the Minister of Interior to impose security and combat illegal immigration, drug trafficking, and other negative phenomena.

The Egyptian-Libyan border is 1,000 kilometres long and has been a major threat to Egyptian security over recent years as it has been used for smuggling weapons and militants to Egypt.

Musaid is the main border crossing to Egypt and is approximately 240 kilomtres from Marsa Matrouh and 150 kilomtres from Tobruk.

Egypt is adopting a strategy of opening up to all Libyan parties supporting a political solution, as part of its support for efforts to defuse the crisis in the country. Egypt earlier announced an initiative, dubbed the Cairo Declaration, which posits a Libyan-Libyan resolution as a basis for resolving the country’s conflict, drawing on earlier international efforts, including the Berlin conference.

On September 22, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi addressed several ongoing topics during the speech he gave at the United Nations’ 75th General Assembly which was held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic.

President Sisi said that his country is committed to a political solution for the current crisis in Libya based on the Skhirat agreement, the Berlin conference and Cairo’s declaration, which set a schedule for establishing a consensual government.

Libya has been in chaos ever since the 2011 overthrow and killing of dictator Muamar Kadhafi in a NATO-backed uprising, with warring rival administrations battling for power. Since the downfall of Kadhafi, Libya also has become a key route for irregular migration from Africa into Europe, across the Mediterranean Sea.