WORLD / AFRICA
Egypt, Libya FMs discuss developments of road map
Published: Jun 20, 2021 04:53 PM
The special military forces of Libya's UN-backed government perform the military skills on the graduation day in Omar Al-Mokhtar training center, near Tripoli, Libya, on Nov. 21, 2020. Libya's UN-backed government on Saturday announced that the first group of special military forces trained by Turkey has graduated. (Photo by Hamza Turkia/Xinhua)

The special military forces of Libya's UN-backed government perform the military skills on the graduation day in Omar Al-Mokhtar training center, near Tripoli, Libya, on Nov. 21, 2020. Libya's UN-backed government on Saturday announced that the first group of special military forces trained by Turkey has graduated. (Photo by Hamza Turkia/Xinhua)

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry held talks on Saturday with his Libyan counterpart Najla al-Mangoush in Cairo on the latest developments of the Libyan roadmap for a political settlement.

"I assert Egypt's support for the interim executive authority represented in the Libyan presidential council and the national unity government in performing their tasks during the transitional stage," Shoukry told a joint press conference.

The Egyptian top diplomat stressed the necessity of restoring security, stability, ­sovereignty and unity of the Libyan territories and "implementing all the stages of the roadmap for the political solution resulting from the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum."

Egypt is looking forward to the Libyan general elections scheduled for December 24 and the expulsion of all foreign forces and mercenaries from Libya "without procrastination," he said.

The Libyan parliament approved in March an interim unity government until the general elections held later this year which are expected to end a decade-long civil war that followed the ouster and killing of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Meanwhile, the Libyan foreign minister described the newly formed unity government as "the government of all Libyan men and women that seeks earnestly and sincerely to express the aspirations and hopes of its people."