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.



Migrant Boat Sinks off Tunisia with at Least Eight Dead, 29 Rescued

Representation photo: Refugees and migrants are rescued by members of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms in the Mediterranean Sea on Nov. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Sergi Camara, File)
Representation photo: Refugees and migrants are rescued by members of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms in the Mediterranean Sea on Nov. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Sergi Camara, File)
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Migrant Boat Sinks off Tunisia with at Least Eight Dead, 29 Rescued

Representation photo: Refugees and migrants are rescued by members of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms in the Mediterranean Sea on Nov. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Sergi Camara, File)
Representation photo: Refugees and migrants are rescued by members of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms in the Mediterranean Sea on Nov. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Sergi Camara, File)

Tunisia's coast guard on Monday recovered the bodies of eight African migrants after their boat sank off the country's coast as it sailed towards Europe, a security official told Reuters, adding that 29 other people were rescued.

The boat sank in waters off the city of Abwabed near Sfax, a departure point often used by African migrants.

Search operations were underway for possible missing persons, said Houssem Eddine Jebabli, an official in the national guard.

Tunisia is grappling with an unprecedented migration crisis and has replaced Libya as a major departure point for both Tunisians and others in Africa seeking a better life in Europe.