Algeria Has Reservations About Establishing An Embassy In Benghazi

Diplomatic sources said that Algeria rejected a request for the government of eastern Libya, which is not recognized internationally, to establish a diplomatic representation in the city of Benghazi, located in the far east of Libya, that is held by retired Army general Khalifa Haftar, who has rebelled against the internationally recognized government in Tripoli.

The newspaper “Al-Arabi Al-Jadid” issued in London stated that the Foreign Minister of the eastern Libyan government loyal to Haftar, Abd al-Hadi al-Hawaij, conveyed this proposal to the Algerian authorities during his visit to Algeria last weekend, where he held talks with the Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sabri Boukadoum.

According to the same source, the Algerian side did not respond to this proposal, and assured Khalifa Haftar’s envoy that Algeria has one diplomatic representation concerned by the Algerian interests in the eastern neighbor country, which is managed by Ambassador Kamel Hidjazi currently residing in Tunisia.
The visit by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of “Haftar” to Algeria is the second of its kind since the return of warmth to the relationship between Algeria and the leader of the so-called “Operation Dignity” about two months ago, as “Al-Hawaij” visited Algeria on the twelfth of January, accompanied by both the Minister of Interior and the Minister of Defense of the Government of Eastern Libya, in the context of the Algerian authorities’ sustained efforts to bridge the wide gap existing between the fraternal brothers in Libya.

Although it received the Minister of Foreign Affairs of “Haftar”, this does not mean that Algeria recognizes the government of eastern Libya, as it has affirmed on more than one occasion and in the words of more than one official, that the only government that Algeria recognizes is the internationally recognized government, which is that headed by Fayez al-Sarraj, and based in the capital, Tripoli.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sabri Boukadoum, recently visited Benghazi, the headquarters of the government loyal to retired Army General Khalifa Haftar for discussions there, before traveling to Tripoli, where he met with both Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

During that visit, M. Boukadoum put forth an initiative designed to solve the Libyan crisis, as he declared Algeria is ready to receive all the parties at issue at the same table in Algeria.

There is no diplomatic representation for Algeria currently in Libya, since it decided to move its embassy to Tunisia in March of 2014, after the steady deterioration of the security situation in Tripoli, and threats against the embassy staff and workers there, and is now awaiting an improvement in the security situation to clear the way for the diplomatic mission to return to its official building in Tripoli.