Foreign Minister Sameh Shokry said Egypt did not attend the morning session of the Libya Contact Group meeting in Addis Ababa on Wednesday because the African Union Commission did not consult the member states although it only acts as a facilitator.
“When such an important meeting is held and countries from outside the African Union are invited to, it must be with the express consent of the member states,” Shokry said. “We did not attend in order to send this clear message.”
“The main party, which is Libya, did not attend either,” he said.
“We had reservations on the formation of the session, which is why it was suspended then held again after changing its framework,” he explained.
He said Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Organizations Amgad Abdel Ghaffar is now attending the meeting in order to assert that Egypt is keen on Libya and that its vision is clearly consistent with the Neighboring Countries Initiative that was declared in Cairo on 25 August to support the Libyan government, renounce violence and military options, pave the way for a national consensus and call for the withdrawal from locations that were occupied despite the will of the Libyan people and their legitimate government.
He said the UN envoy Bernardino Lyon was able to hold three national dialogue sessions between political forces that have expressed interest in reaching reconciliation. “We support this effort,” he said.
“There should not be too many initiatives and mechanisma for mere political appearance,” he said. “This does not serve the issue.”.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
