In view of the deteriorating climate in Libya, Egyptian President Abdelfattah Al-Sisi has urged international action via the UN Security Council to intervene to re-establish legality and stability in Libya only days after 21 Egyptian Copts were killed there by ISIL-affiliated militants.

Speaking in an interview with “Europe 1” radio broadcast on Tuesday, Al-Sisi said Egypt did not want to intervene militarily in Libya but would work with the international community, citing France and Italy, to try to end the reign of terror in that country.

“We must deal with this problem because the mission was not completed (during the intervention by the European nations). We have abandoned the Libyan people to terrorism,” the Egyptian leader said.

Al-Sisi indicated that Egyptian air attacks against pro-ISIL groups in Derna over the weekend were not designed as intervention in Libya but were necessary to defend Egypt’s interests.

“We don’t want to intervene militarily and our attack was a form of self-defence,” he said.

“We need a response together,” he added, urging an international initiative to restore stability in Libya. “We must fight together to defeat terrorism.” Asked by “Europe 1” if this meant a UN Security Council mandate for action in Libya, he replied that he favoured this.

“There is no other choice, if the Libyan people are in agreement and call upon us,” the President said in the interview recorded in Cairo upon signature of a major arms contract with France.

Al-Sisi recalled that he had warned French President Francois Hollande four months ago of the growing dangers in Libya and both leaders discussed the war on terrorism in a phone call over the weekend after the assassination of the Egyptian nationals in Libya.

The Egyptian leader said he told Hollande of “the risks, the threats facing Egypt…not only Egypt but the Mediterranean basin, the region and Europe.” He recommended lifting the UN arms embargo on supplying weapons to the “legal” Libyan armed forces to allow them to combat the militant terrorists.

“We have to support legality and the Libyan people,” he said. “We must disarm (terrorists) and prevent arrival of arms,” he urged.

“We must lift the embargo on the Libyan army and allow it to defend itself,” he added.

Separately, Al-Sisi welcomed a major arms deal with France in which Paris has agreed to supply 24 high-tech, sophisticated “Rafale” combat aircraft to Egypt, as well as air-to-air missiles and a naval Frigate, for an estimated USD 5.7 billion.

He said the two countries had a long-standing defence cooperation and France has already supplied Mirage 5 and Mirage 2000 to the Egyptian air force as well as high-grade air defence missiles.

Source:  kuna.net.kw

A senior member of Palestinian Islamic group Hamas, Salah Bardawil, on Tuesday warned Italy not to embark on a military intervention in Libya, saying this would be considered “a new Crusade against Arab countries and Muslims”.

Last week Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said that Italy was ready to participate in a United Nations-mandated operation in Libya, amid concerns about advances made by jihadists linking themselves to the ISIS Islamist group.

But on Monday Premier Matteo Renzi ruled out an Italian operation in Libya for the time being and called for calm after the beheading of a group of Egyptian Copts in Libya on Sunday and threats that ISIS was now “south of Rome”.

In response to the tensions, Italy closed its embassy in Libya and brought back about 60 Italians early Monday.

Bardawil was quoted by the Palinfo agency as warned “some countries, such as Italy” against using the “excuse of fighting terrorism” to meddle in Libya.

The beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians by Islamic State’s affiliate in Libya is giving impetus to calls for a broader military action to crush Islamist militants in the oil-rich country.

Italy, Libya’s former colonial ruler, said it would consider military intervention under a United Nations mandate. Egypt, which bombed Islamic State targets in Libya Monday, urged the U.S.-led coalition against the al-Qaeda breakaway group to expand its operations to Libya and to end an arms embargo on the internationally-recognized government there.

The Egyptian military also deployed forces domestically to “secure vital institutions and installations,” it said in a statement. Tunisia, Libya’s western neighbor, said military helicopters and fighter jets were conducting reconnaissance missions to monitor the border.

More than three years after NATO-led airstrikes helped Libyan rebels end Muammar al-Qaddafi’s four-decade autocratic rule, Libya’s crisis is posing a threat to its neighbors as well as European interests. Italian oil company Eni SpA is Libya’s biggest foreign oil producer.

A power struggle between Islamists and the elected Libyan government has divided the country, driving it further into chaos and forcing most of the remaining foreign nationals to head home. Italy is ready to send more than 5,000 soldiers under a United Nations mandate to stop Islamic State, “which is now 350 kilometers from our shores,” Foreign Minister Roberta Pinotti said in an interview published Sunday in newspaper Il Messaggero.

‘South of Rome’

In the video purporting to show the execution of the Coptic Christians, one of the militants refereed to Libya as the land of Islam “south of Rome.” “O crusaders, safety for you will be only wishes,” he says.

The U.S. began airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq in August, two months after the group seized Mosul, Iraq’s biggest northern city. In October, Arab countries including Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia formed the biggest Arab-U.S. military coalition in more than two decades to bomb the group in Syria.

The U.A.E. said it will support Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi in his fight against terrorism. U.A.E. Ambassador to the U.S. Yousef Al Otaiba, in an opinion piece in Politico magazine on Monday, said airstrikes won’t be enough to stop Islamic State in Iraq, Syria or elsewhere.

“While the U.S.-led coalition has been decisive in helping to blunt ISIL advances from the air, what happens on the ground will matter most,” he wrote, using another acronym for the group. “The lesson is that boots on the ground are critical and that we must move more urgently to train, equip and deploy local forces.”

Egypt may need to consider securing its borders with Libya to prevent the infiltration of armed groups.

Since his rise into the political spotlight about 18 months ago, Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has presented himself domestically and abroad as a leader in the fight against political religious groups in the region.

The slaughter of 21 Coptic Egyptian workers by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Libya, and the retaliatory air strikes launched by Egypt’s military, have expanded Sisi’s regional war against such groups. The developments come just weeks after Egypt declared al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian faction Hamas, a “terrorist group”.

Sisi frequently fails to differentiate between groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood and more violent and hardline organisations, such as al-Qaeda and ISIL.

Domestically, the Egyptian president launched a massive crackdown against the Brotherhood, Egypt’s largest political opposition group, declaring it a “terrorist” organisation, arresting its leaders and banning its political party. A widening military campaign against ISIL affiliates in Sinai has killed hundreds of people, including civilians.

Egyptian media and state officials have often blamed Hamas for attacks on Egypt’s security forces in Sinai. Egypt has also declared its support for Libya’s internationally recognised government in Tobruk, which has been engaged in a months-long armed struggle against a parallel government in Tripoli, which is supported by armed groups and the General National Congress.

Egypt, with backing from the United Arab Emirates, has often been accused of providing military support to the forces of Khalifa Haftar fighting alongside the Tobruk government – allegations Egypt has denied.

Egypt’s air strikes against ISIL targets may be seen as a new chapter in Sisi’s regional confrontations with hardline groups. In a speech to the nation on Sunday night, Sisi told Egyptians that his country “reserves the right to respond by the appropriate measures and at the appropriate time in retribution against those killers”.

It remains to be seen how far Egypt’s armed campaign will go against ISIL targets in Libya, but internationally, the air strikes could represent an opportunity for Sisi’s regime, giving it a larger role in the growing international coalition against ISIL and its regional affiliates.

In December, the United States delivered 10 Apache helicopters to Egypt after holding back military aid since the military coup led by Sisi ousting Egypt’s democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi. The delivery was primarily justified by Egypt’s need to fight ISIL in Sinai. Egypt was also expected on Monday to sign a $5.9bn deal to buy 24 Rafale jet fighters from France.

The air strikes could also help Sisi gain domestic support at a crucial time, with his regime facing growing criticism by supporters and foes alike over his stalled political agenda and unprecedented human rights violations.

In addition, at the end of January, more than 40 members of Egypt’s security forces were killed in a coordinated attack in North Sinai, shaking Egypt’s trust in the abilities of its military to keep control of the strategic peninsula.

Sisi could also use his expanding war against ISIL to further suppress any demands for political reforms. A parliamentary election scheduled for March is effectively being boycotted by the majority of political forces that led the January 25 revolution.

Despite such opportunities, Egypt’s intervention in Libya also presents Sisi with new challenges. It shows the growing threat posed by ISIL to Egypt as the group expands in Sinai in the east and Libya to the west.
Air strikes have so far been unable to defeat ISIL throughout the region, and they have also caused civilian casualties, further deepening tensions. Egypt may need to consider securing its borders with Libya, which have long been scarcely inhabited, to prevent the infiltration of armed groups.

At the same time, the Egyptian military intervention could undermine dialogue opportunities between the two main political groups in Libya, the Tobruk and Tripoli governments.

A UN-sponsored dialogue process finally succeeded in bringing the two sides together last week in Ghadames, but they have yet to talk directly to each other. The military intervention by Egypt, which favours the Tobruk government, could ultimately upset the balance between the parties and risk deepening the conflict.

Source: Al Jazeera

Bashir al-Dersi, an alleged major leader of alleged terrorist groups in Libya, was killed in the area of Bab Shiha in the Egyptian airstrike on the port city of Derna, Libyan sources told Youm7 Monday.

Dersi’s home was identified in coordination with the Libyan army, the sources said.

Earlier, commander of the Libyan Air Force Sakr al-Jeroushi told Youm7 around 55 “militants” were killed in the strike early Monday, hours after the Islamic State group (IS) released a video of a mass beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians.

Four areas in Derna were targeted; Bab Shiha, Dafesh, and Shaeri were hit for being the site of a communications center and training centers used by “terrorists” and some buildings used as weapons warehouse, Jeroushi said.

Derna, which is close to the Egyptian western border, houses fighters who arrived from Syria, Iraq, Sudan and Mauritania, according to Jeroushi.

The strike https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huRFnWwiLAA comes after information on the locations of “terrorist groups,” specifically those who killed the 21 Egyptian men, Jeroushi said, adding that the attack is “in line with United Nations standards.” Groups affiliated with the Islamic State group took over Derna in October 2014.

Jeroushi denied that civilians were affected in the strike, as the Libyan forces had “informed civilians” in Derna to distance themselves IS’ camps.

One family, the Dhanni, was warned after discovering anti-craft guns on their rooftop, but they did not respond to the warning and thus his home was targeted, Jeroushi told Youm7, adding that losses worth $1.5 billion were inflicted upon the “terrorist groups.”

Source:  thecairopost

Libya’s internationally recognised prime minister called for the West to launch air strikes to defeat Islamist militants who control Tripoli and have driven his government out of the capital.

Speaking hours before Egypt bombed Islamic State targets in Libya in retaliation after militants said they had beheaded 21 Egyptian Christians, Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni made a plea for Western military intervention in a country rapidly slipping into chaos.

“We have absolutely confirmed information that al Qaeda and IS are in Tripoli and….near Ben Jawad,” he said, referring to a central town controlled by a faction that supports a rival government.

“I ask world powers stand by Libya and launch military strikes against these groups,” he said. “This threat will move to European countries, especially Italy.”

Thinni, the internationally recognised premier, has been based in the east of the country since an armed group called Libya Dawn seized the capital in August. Libyan Dawn includes Islamists but denies that it has links to al Qaeda or to fighters that have sworn allegiance to Islamic State.

The North African country is in chaos as two rival governments and parliaments allied to separate armed factions fight for territory, four years after NATO war planes helped topple dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Egypt’s military, joined by jets from Libya’s own air forces, bombed Islamic State targets inside Libya on Monday, a day after fighters proclaiming allegiance to the group released a video showing what they described as the beheading of 21 Egyptians captured in Libya.

A Libyan air force commander said 40-50 militants were killed in the Libyan-Egyptian strikes.

Egypt is worried about the rise of Islamic State, especially in areas near its border. It called on Monday for the U.S.-led coalition that has been bombing Islamic State in Syria and Iraq to confront the group in Libya as well.

With Libya divided by two governments, the United Nations has been mediating to avert full-blown civil war. But little progress has been made in talks as the country is dominated by former rebels who helped oust Gaddafi but now fight each other.

“Dialogue is the only way to save Libya,” Thinni said in an interview at his government headquarters in Bayda, a town some 1,200 km to the east of Tripoli.

He insisted that talks need to be based on the assumption that one of two rival parliaments, the House of Representatives elected in June and also based in the east, is the legitimate assembly.

The U.N. has sought to widen its dialogue by including the previous parliament, known as General National Congress (GNC), which was reinstated in Tripoli by Libya Dawn.

“The redline, what we cannot give up, is the legitimacy of the elected House of Representatives,” Thinni said.
He warned that a military confrontation was still on option for his government. The air force of autonomous general Khalifa Haftar allied to Thinni has bombed targets in western Libya.

“We hope the dialogue is the way out… but if the dialogue fails, God forbid, then there is another opinion, the use of military force,” he said.

DEFICIT
The turmoil has driven the oil exports on which Libya depends to feed its population to less than 200,000 barrels a day, a fifth of levels seen in 2013 and an even smaller fraction of that seen under Gaddafi. The state ran a deficit of $19 billion last year.

Thinni, whose control of state revenue and spending is in doubt, said Libya would post a budget deficit again in 2015 due to sharply shrinking oil production, but said Libya could get foreign loans or ask countries like the United Arab Emirates, his main backer, for help.

Neither of the two rival parliaments has approved a budget for 2015 but Thinni said his government would present a draft by mid-March. The central bank, located in the west in territory outside Thinni’s control, has sought to stay out of the conflict by limiting spending to public salaries and essential imports.

Thinni said his government had moved the headquarters of state oil firm NOC to the east and planned to set up a new central bank unit there.

Such moves could be sensitive for foreign oil buyers confused over how to pay for Libya’s oil. They have been paying for oil sales through the NOC and central bank accounts which are out of Thinni’s control.

“We’ve moved National Oil Corp completely to Brega,” Thinni said, referring to an eastern oil town. “This is the sole legitimate body.”