Egypt-Libya: Haftar becomes again the privileged ally of Cairo

The visit last week of Libyan Marshal Khalifa Haftar to Egypt, according to Cairo and Washington, is part of the efforts led by the international community to succeed in the political process and lead to general elections at the end of the year in Libya.

For the sake of balance, Egypt also announced that it will soon receive for broader consultations other Libyan personalities involved in the political dialogue.

Cairo is again banking on its alliance with Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the strongman of eastern Libya to counter the influence of Ankara and Islamists in Libya. Indeed, Haftar’s surprise visit to Cairo took place just three days after the statements of the Turkish Minister of Defense who said, in the presence of Libyan Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah in Ankara, that Turkish forces and mercenaries would not leave Libya as stipulated in the political agreement.

If Cairo is seeking to ease the heightened tension between the two opposing camps and lead Libya towards elections, it is because Khalifa Haftar, by agreeing to play the game, could also be the right choice for Cairo, should the future electoral law allow it.