Algeria Asks Egyptian President Al Sisi To Stop Bombarding Libya

Diplomatic sources said that Algeria has asked Cairo to stop its air strikes on eastern Libya, because such action will not solve the security crisis now experienced by Egypt.

The “Middle East A” website said that the recent Egyptian military strikes on eastern Libya has moved Algeria, whose President Abdelaziz Bouteflika got  in touch with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, asking him to stop bombing Libya.

According to the same source, the Algerian President told his Egyptian opposite number that “the bombing of Libya will not settle the security problems of Egypt,” after the Egyptian army launched manifold raids on what it said were the sites of terrorists in the Darna region.

A source familiar with the site said that Fayez Al Sarraj, head of the Libyan Presidential Council, immediately called, after the Egyptian air raids, Ahmed Ouyahia, the Director of the Office of the Algerian President and asked him to mediate with the senior Cairo authorities  for securing a halt to the  Egyptian air attacks on eastern Libya.

According to the same sources, the Egyptian authorities have had a project to strike targets in eastern Libya even before the ill-fated attack on the Coptic bus, which was used only to justify the attacks. 

In this line, the Egyptian army chief of staff, Mahmoud Hijazi, reportedly visited eastern Libya earlier this month and met there with Marshal Hafter.

They added that the Algerian side had expected an escalation in the situation inside Libya in recent weeks. 

Lieutenant-General  Ahmed Gaid Saleh, the Deputy Minister of National Defense and the Army Chief of Staff, has moved close to the Libyan border in recent days and supervised live ammunition drills there so as to confirm the readiness of the ANP Army  to face up to any emergency.

In this context, Algeria called for an urgent meeting with the Egyptian side in order to try and secure an early breakthrough to the ongoing crisis, according to the same sources.

Meanwhile, the Algerian foreign affairs ministry  announced on Sunday the convening of a tripartite meeting  involving  the foreign affairs of Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt in Algiers on June 5th to discuss the latest developments unfolding in the situation in neighboring Libya.