CAIRO: Egyptian diplomats and intelligence officials arrived in the Libyan capital of Tripoli on Sunday, Libyan officials said, the most senior Egyptian delegation to visit the western part of the conflict-stricken country in years.

The Egyptian delegation was headed by Ayman Badea, the deputy chief of the General Intelligence Service, Egypt’s version of the CIA.

The delegation met with Fathi Bashagha, the powerful interior minister of the Tripoli-based government, as well as Emad Trapolsi, head of intelligence in western Libya.

Bashaghas office said in a statement that they discussed mutual security challenges and ways to enhance security cooperation.

They also discussed ways to support a UN-brokered ceasefire deal that Libya’s warring sides reached in October, the statement said.

Oil-rich Libya is currently split between the UN-sup­ported government in Tripoli and a rival administration based in the city of Benghazi and which controls the country’s east and south. The country was plunged into chaos after the 2011 Nato-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Qadhafi. Egypt views the instability in neighboring Libya as a national security threat.

Egypt and the United Arab Emirates back the eastern forces, led by military commander Khalifa Haftar.

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2020