The Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, received a letter which he labeled as “significant” from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
In a brief statement on Tuesday, Haftar said that he had received a “significant message from Sisi,” delivered to him by the Egyptian military intelligence chief, Major General Khaled Megawer.
Haftar met with Megawer at his headquarters near the eastern city of Benghazi.
Haftar did not divulge the message’s details, but well-informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that it is linked to negotiations aiming to convince him to respond to international and US demands on the resumption of oil production. This comes under the condition of fulfilling demands presented by the LNA and Libyan parliament.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Libyan Presidential Council, Fayez al-Sarraj, on Tuesday met with President of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Peter Maurer and his accompanying delegation in Tripoli. The talks were attended by the Health Ministry Undersecretary Mohammed Haitham.
The meeting discussed means to enhance cooperation between the Government of National Accord (GNA), which is led by Sarraj, and the ICRC.
Haftar had met with Maurer on Monday and discussed humanitarian conditions in Libya, especially in areas damaged by the ongoing war against terrorism and Turkish-backed militias.
The meeting also discussed the means of humanitarian cooperation, and what the ICRC could do to help alleviate the suffering in the country.
In other news, GNA’s Chairman of the High Council of State Khalid al-Mishri reaffirmed preparedness to solidify the GNA’s sovereignty across Libya in cooperation with allies, in reference to Turkey and Qatar.
“Our meeting with the Turkish and Qatari representatives was positive and we emphasized the importance of political dialogue to solve the crisis,” he added.
The GNA has agreed with Turkey and Qatar to sign a three-way agreement for military cooperation, a senior Libyan official has announced following a quick visit by the Turkish and Qatari defense ministers to Tripoli.
The announcement came from Libya’s Deputy Defense Minister Salah Al-Namroush on Aug 17 in a statement following talks with Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and Qatari Defense Minister Khalid bin Mohammad Al Attiyah in Tripoli.
