President Sisi meets with Abdel Hamid Dbeibeh, reaffirms Egypt support for Libyans

 

CAIRO – 18 February 2021: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has received new Libyan Prime Minister Abdel Hamid Dbeibeh on Thursday in Cairo, said Egyptian Presidential Spokesperson Bassam Radi in a statement.

 

The new Libyan Prime Minister expressed his honor to meet President Sisi, praising Egypt’s sincere and effective efforts to resolve the Libyan crisis during the past period and resulted in the convergence of views between conflicting Libyan parties and an end to the state of division.

 

He also appreciated Egypt's support for Libyan institutions in combating terrorism and extremist groups.

 

Dbeibeh voiced the Libyan government and people’s aspiration to establish a comprehensive partnership with Egypt to reproduce a successful development experience, especially with regard to restoring security and stability and launching the development and reform process.

 

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi congratulated the new Libyan leadership for obtaining the confidence of the representatives of the Political Dialogue Forum, saying that "it is a promising beginning of a new phase in which all Libyan state institutions work in harmony and unified."

 

The President also expressed Egypt's keenness to continue supporting the Libyan people to have and solidify peace and stability to their country, saying “This current stage requires that Libya has to intensify all the efforts that would be exerted by its sincere sons and men to prioritize actions in various fields.”

 

President Sisi affirmed Egypt's full readiness to provide all its expertise and experience in serving the Libyan people, in a way that contributes to putting Libya on the right track.

 

Both sides also reviewed the Libyan efforts during the coming period to lead the transitional phase, besides the prospects for cooperation and coordination between the two countries, Radi said.

 

It has been agreed to exchange visits at the level of executive officials to transfer Egyptian expertise and experience to the Libyan people, securely and economically.

 

On February 6, Libyan delegates at UN-facilitated talks made the surprise choice of Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah as transitional prime minister, along with a three-member presidency council, to govern the war-ravaged North African country until the December elections. 

Mohammad Younes Menfi became the new president of the presidency council in the unity administration, following the vote held outside Geneva and announced by former UN envoy Stephanie Williams.

Egypt welcomed the results of voting for a new Libyan executive power in the UN-led forum in Geneva, expressing its aspiration to work with the new Libyan interim authority over the coming period until transferring the power to an elected government in the elections due to convene on December 24, 2021.