Egyptian Officials Hold Rare Talks with GNA in Libya’s Tripoli

A photo released by GNA Interior Minister Bashagha shows the Egyptian delegation meeting Libyan officials on Sunday.
A photo released by GNA Interior Minister Bashagha shows the Egyptian delegation meeting Libyan officials on Sunday.
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Egyptian Officials Hold Rare Talks with GNA in Libya’s Tripoli

A photo released by GNA Interior Minister Bashagha shows the Egyptian delegation meeting Libyan officials on Sunday.
A photo released by GNA Interior Minister Bashagha shows the Egyptian delegation meeting Libyan officials on Sunday.

An Egyptian delegation kicked off on Sunday an official visit to the Libyan capital Tripoli, the first since 2014.

The delegation included senior officials from the general intelligence, foreign ministry and Egyptian committee tasked with following up on Libyan affairs.

It met with senior officials from the Government of National Accord (GNA), which is headed by Fayez al-Sarraj. The officials met with his deputy Ahmed Maiteeq, the GNA foreign and interior ministers, commander of the armed forces, and commander of the western operations Osama al-Juwaili.

Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha said talks focused on joint security challenges and bolstering security cooperation between Cairo and Tripoli. They also discussed ways to support the recent ceasefire, the outcomes of the 5+5 committee meetings, United Nations efforts in holding political dialogue and ways to resolve the crisis through political and peaceful means.

Egypt, which enjoys strong ties with the Libyan administration in the east, has in recent weeks been opening up to the GNA. In a sign of the new rapprochement, the delegation visited the Egyptian embassy in Tripoli. The mission has been shut for years and the visit may be a precursor to its reopening.

Pro-GNA media quoted a diplomatic source as saying that the visit was the beginning of an attempt to restore diplomatic relations. Libyan officials had requested from their visitors that Egypt restore consular services and resume flights between Tripoli and Cairo airport.

The Egyptian officials did not hold talks with either Defense Minister Salah al-Namroush or Sarraj.

The delegation’s visit coincided with that of Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, who met with GNA officials.

Informed Libyan sources revealed that war in the country was imminent after receiving confirmed information that Akar had discussed with the GNA a war plan that would target the Libyan National Army (LNA), commanded by Khalifa Haftar.

The war would target LNA positions in the central cities of Sirte and al-Jufra.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that despite regional and international efforts to avert a new conflict, “war is on the horizon.”

They said that Turkey was seeking to launch a surprise attack against the LNA to force it to retreat from Sirte al-Jufra.



RSF Shelling On Camp Kills 8 in Sudan's Darfur, Say Rescuers

A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
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RSF Shelling On Camp Kills 8 in Sudan's Darfur, Say Rescuers

A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig

Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shelled a displacement camp in Sudan's Darfur region on Thursday, killing eight civilians and injuring others, a local rescue group said.

The bombardment hit Abu Shouk camp, which hosts tens of thousands of displaced people on the outskirts of El Fasher, the besieged capital of North Darfur.

El-Fasher remains the last major stronghold in Sudan's western Darfur region not under the control of the RSF, who have been at war with the regular army since April 2023, AFP reported.

"The Abu Shouk camp witnessed heavy artillery bombardment by the RSF... killing eight people," the camp's Emergency Response Room said in a statement.

In recent weeks, El-Fasher, which has been under RSF siege since last year, has been locked in intense fighting between warring sides in a region also gripped by famine.

Thursday's offensive comes just days after a series of attacks by the RSF targeted another battleground region of Sudan.

More than 450 people, including 35 children, were killed in several villages of North Kordofan, southwest of the capital Khartoum, according to a statement released this week by the UN's children agency.

"No child should ever experience such horrors," said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. "Violence against children is unconscionable and must end now."

On Sunday, the RSF claimed to have killed more than 470 army personnel near the town of El-Obeid, also in North Kordofan, in a statement posted to its Telegram channel.

Independent verification of casualties in Sudan remains difficult due to restricted access to its conflict zones.

Now in its third year, the conflict has killed tens of thousands and forced millions to flee, creating what the United Nations describes as the world's largest displacement crisis.

In December last year, famine was officially declared in three displacement camps near El-Fasher, namely Zamzam, Abu Shouk and Al-Salam, according to the UN.

Since the Sudanese army regained control of the capital Khartoum in March, the RSF has shifted its operations westward, focusing on Darfur and Kordofan in a bid to consolidate territorial gains.

In April, RSF fighters seized the Zamzam displacement camp, located near Abu Shouk.

The assault forced nearly 400,000 people to flee, according to UN figures, effectively emptying one of the country's largest camps for the displaced.

Sudanese analyst Mohaned el-Nour told AFP the RSF aims to redefine its role in the conflict.

"Their goal is no longer to be seen as a militia, but as an alternative government in western Sudan, undermining the legitimacy of the authorities in Port Sudan."

He added that the recent surge in violence in North Kordofan was likely intended to divert the army's attention from El Fasher, where the military is trying "at all costs" to maintain.