Libyan FM values Egyptian supportive stance

Visiting Libyan Foreign Minister Mohammed al Dairi said he appreciates Egypt’s supportive stance of the Libyan legitimacy and political security.

Speaking to reporters following a meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry on Monday, Dairi said they also tackled the idea of forming a joint Arab force and postponing a meeting of Arab foreign and defense ministers scheduled for Wednesday in Cairo.

Egypt and Libya both agree on the importance of forming the force to support Arab national security, Dairi said.

He said the meeting also took up steps to be taken after Libyan warring parties initialed the Skhirat peace deal.

Several steps are needed for the final signature of the deal and its ratification by parliament, he said, expressing optimism about forming a national accord government.

Negotiations for the new government will start in the coming days, he added.

Opposing factions in Libya's civil war have agreed to terms for the formation of a unity government but negotiations have been marred by the abstention of the country's rival Tripoli administration which walked out of talks on 8 July.

The Tripoli administration, which has the backing of a powerful coalition of militias known as Libya Dawn, has said it will not accept the peace terms unless its authority is recognized.

Libya has been locked in a bitter power struggle between an Islamist government in Tripoli and its internationally recognized government in Tobruk since August last year when Libya Dawn militias seized control of the nation's capital.