LIBYA-SECURITY/EGYPT Libyan Foreign Minister says peace deal should be reached by end of August

Record ID: 143383

  • Title: LIBYA-SECURITY/EGYPT Libyan Foreign Minister says peace deal should be reached by end of August
  • Date: 19th August 2015
  • Summary: CAIRO, EGYPT (AUGUST 19, 2015) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** EXTERIOR OF THE EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY LIBYAN FOREIGN MINISTER, MOHAMED AL DAIRI (LEFT), AND EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, SAMEH SHOUKRY (RIGHT), SEATED DAIRI SPEAKING SHOUKRY LISTENING SHOUKRY AND DAIRI ARRIVING AT NEWS CONFERENCE EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY EMBLEM DAIRI AND SHOUKRY AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LIBYAN FOREIGN MINISTER, MOHAMED AL DAIRI, SAYING: "There is a timetable and by the end of August we should reach an agreement. We wish that the agreement will be signed by the first week of September because time is of the essence and Libya is facing dangerous challenges caused by Islamic State and other dangerous terrorist groups." MEMBERS OF THE EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS WRITING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, SAMEH SHOUKRY, SAYING: "We have been following what is happening in Sirte and the aggressive attack by the extremist organisation of Islamic State and others. This all calls for the rising of the international community to the responsibility of providing full support to the Libyan government." NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 3rd September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Egypt
  • Country: Egypt
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVADUM02L51JLCPIB3KIAHO1EGA8
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Libyan Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Dairi said on Wednesday (August 19) that an agreement between disputing Libyan parties to form a unity government will be reached by the end of August.
    The comments came during a press conference with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry, where he also said that it is critical to reach an agreement quickly as Islamic State attacks have increased in Libya.
    "There is a timetable and by the end of August we should reach an agreement. We wish that the agreement will be signed by the first week of September because time is of the essence and Libya is facing dangerous challenges caused by Islamic State and other dangerous terrorist groups," he said.
    Al Dairi is a representative of Libya's internationally recognised government which signed a peace deal in July with other Libyan factions. The Tripoli government has not signed the deal.
    Islamic State has exploited the security vacuum to expand in Libya, as it did in Syria and Iraq. Sirte is its main base in the North African country.
    In the past few days, IS has crushed a revolt by a Salafist Muslim group and armed residents trying to break its grip on the Libyan coastal city of Sirte. Dozens of people have been killed, according to residents.
    The fighting typifies chaos in Libya, where two rival governments and parliaments, together with an assortment of Islamists, tribesmen and armed groups, are battling for control of cities and regions, four years after the ousting of veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi.
    Libya asked Arab League members for military intervention to help defeat Islamic State militants in the Sirte, during an urgent meeting of the Arab League in Cairo on Tuesday (August 18).
    Libya's regular border security guards have stopped working at the main border crossing to Egypt, officials said on Wednesday, a further breakdown of state authority.
    The incident will reinforce worries in Egypt that militants are using the desert border to smuggle in fighters and weapons from Libya.
    The border is also a transit route for migrants from Syria heading via Egypt to western Libya, from where they hope to get by boat to Italy, with the help of smugglers.
    Shoukry said during the news conference that Egypt is following the situation in Sirte closely and calls upon the international community to provide support for Libya.
    "We have been following what is happening in Sirte and the aggressive attack by the extremist organisation of Islamic State and others. This calls for the the international community to rise to the responsibility of providing full support to the Libyan government," he said.
    An Egyptian security source said the regular Libyan border guards had stopped working five days ago, adding that civilians now appeared to be working on the Libyan side of the border.
    Egypt had previously increased security at the 1,000 km (600 mile) long border with Libya, where Islamic State has made inroads by exploiting a security vacuum as two governments fight each other.
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