Libyan PM-designate Fathi Bashagha in Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials, US ambassador Norland

Libya’s new Prime Minister-designate Fathi Bashagha arrived in Cairo where he is expected to hold consultations on the situation in the oil-rich country with Egyptian top officials and the US ambassador, reports Italian news agency Nova.

The agency citing unnamed sources adds that Bashagha will meet with U.S. Special Envoy and Ambassador to Libya, Richard Norland, and senior Egyptian officials, including Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel.

The consultations aim at finding a solution to the crisis in Libya while preventing Russia from increasing its influence in the country.

Designated last month, Bashagha, a former interior minister, has been facing obstacle to take office in capital Tripoli as outgoing Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah refuses to hand over power.

On Wednesday, the UN Undersecretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo warned that the oil-rich African country could again see two rival administrations and a return to instability and called for elections as soon as possible.

The House of Representatives (HoR), headquartered in the eastern city of Tobruk, has replaced Dbeibah over “his failure” to organize Dec. 24 scheduled presidential elections.