Egypt calls for lifting arms embargo on Libya

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi reiterated a call on the international community to lift an arms embargo on Libya on Saturday, which would allow weapons to be delivered legally to a powerful general he backs in the fractured country’s east.
After meeting Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar in Cairo, Sisi, himself a former general, said in a statement that Haftar’s Libyan National Army required the weapons to fight terrorism. Efforts should be made to stop foreign funding from flowing to terrorist groups in Libya, he added.
Libya descended into chaos following the 2011 Nato-backed uprising that toppled and killed leader Muammar Qadhafi.
The oil-rich nation is now split between rival governments and militias, and Daesh fighters entered the country amid the chaos, but were largely beaten back.
Haftar is allied with the internationally-recognised parliament in eastern Libya and at odds with the UN-backed government in Tripoli, and has fought militias loyal to western factions in the past.
Egypt has hosted Haftar as well as leaders from Libya’s west for talks in Cairo in an attempt to mediate, and says it wishes to support Libya’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The Egyptian statement said both Sisi and Haftar want dialogue between all Libyan factions to continue, to reach a political solution to the conflict.