Egyptian Parliament Gives Sisi Mandate to Deploy Troops Abroad

Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi. (Reuters)
Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi. (Reuters)
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Egyptian Parliament Gives Sisi Mandate to Deploy Troops Abroad

Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi. (Reuters)
Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi. (Reuters)

Egypt's parliament on Monday approved the deployment of armed forces abroad to fight "criminal militias" and "foreign terrorist groups" on a "western front", after President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi said Cairo could intervene in Libya.

Parliament said in a statement that the troops would be defending national security, without giving further details or naming Libya directly.

Sisi and US President Donald Trump agreed on Monday on the need to maintain a ceasefire in Libya and avoid an escalation between the forces fighting there, Egypt’s presidency said.

Sisi said last week Egypt would not stand idle in the face of threats to Egyptian and Libyan security.

"Egypt will spare no efforts to support the sister Libya ... to overcome the current critical crisis," the Egyptian presidency said in a statement after a meeting of the National Defense Council on Sunday that was chaired by Sisi.

Egypt is concerned about instability in Libya and Turkey’s support for the Government of National Accord in Tripoli, whose fighters have moved closer to the central city of Sirte in the hope of recapturing it from the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) of Khalifa Haftar.

Sisi last month declared the Sirte and Jufra frontlines a red line for Egypt.

Libya´s east-based parliament, the sole elected body in the country, also urged Sisi to send troops.

Sisi and Trump also discussed Ethiopia’s planned Blue Nile dam, the Egyptian presidency said. Cairo is worried that Ethiopia will start filling the dam without an agreement with Cairo and Sudan, which would also be affected.



Lufthansa Extends Beirut Flight Suspension until October 15

The Lufthansa group, whose carriers also include SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, has not flown to Beirut since late July (File photo by Reuters)
The Lufthansa group, whose carriers also include SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, has not flown to Beirut since late July (File photo by Reuters)
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Lufthansa Extends Beirut Flight Suspension until October 15

The Lufthansa group, whose carriers also include SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, has not flown to Beirut since late July (File photo by Reuters)
The Lufthansa group, whose carriers also include SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, has not flown to Beirut since late July (File photo by Reuters)

German airline group Lufthansa said Thursday it was extending a suspension of flights to Lebanese capital Beirut until October 15 due to heightened regional tensions.

Services to Beirut had previously been suspended until the end of September, AFP reported.

The Lufthansa group, whose carriers also include SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, has not flown to Beirut since late July.

Lebanese group Hezbollah has traded near-daily fire with Israeli forces in support of ally Hamas since the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attack triggered war in the Gaza Strip.

Lufthansa had also suspended flights to Tel Aviv in Israel due to the tensions, but resumed them on September 5.

Flights to Tehran also resumed on September 5, although Austrian Airlines is currently the only airline in the group serving the Iranian capital, a Lufthansa spokesman told AFP.

Germany, France and Britain on Tuesday said they were taking steps to cancel air transport agreements with Iran because of what they said was Iran's delivery of ballistic missiles to Russia.

"The Lufthansa group is aware of the planned sanctions and is in contact with the relevant authorities," the spokesman said.

Germany's foreign ministry on Wednesday said the country was "currently in intensive consultation with its European and international partners about the imposition of new sanctions, including in the aviation sector".