Egypt’s FM dicusses Libyan and Syrian crises with Algerian PM

By on May 29, 2014

On a 4-day visit to Algeria, FM Nabil Fahmy asserts Egypt’s commitment to protecting Libyan unity and showcases the latest developments of the post-Morsi transitional roadmap which has just yielded a president-elect

Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy met Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal during a four-day visit to Algeria to discuss regional issues as part of the 17th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Al-Ahram’s Arabic news website reported.

During Fahmy’s visit — which began on 26 May and is due to conclude on Thursday — the two officials discussed bilateral relations, as well as the Syrian crisis, Egyptian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Badr Abdel-Ati said.

Fahmy also stressed that Egypt will pursue its efforts to protect Libyan unity.

As recommended in the summit, Egypt and Algeria are to schedule a subsequent meeting for the foreign ministers of countries neighbouring Libya, aiming to discuss issues related to the unrest gripping the country, according to the same source.

On the meeting’s agenda are the implications of Libya’s unrest on its neighbours, the means to protect their borders, as well as ways to tackle the ongoing political turbulence in the North African country.

Egyptian officials say Libyan militiamen have helped militant insurgents at home and raised concerns of arms trafficking from Libya through, and into, Egypt.

In Libya, three years after the uprising that killed former strongman Muammar Gaddafi after more than 40 years in power, the political situation remains highly volatile.

In recent developments, thousands of demonstrators rallied to support renegade ex-general Khalifa Haftar, who has vowed to crush the Islamist militants plaguing the North African country while calling for the formation of an emergency cabinet and for legislative elections.

In the summit, Fahmy also showcased the latest updates of Egypt’s transitional roadmap set out by interim authorities last July after the deposal of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

Egyptians cast their ballots on 26, 27 and 28 May in the first presidential polls after Morsi’s ouster.

Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi is headed to become Egypt’s new president after securing a landslide victory of over 96 percent of the popular vote, with over 23 million ballots in his favour, according to an unofficial vote count as of early Thursday.

El-Sisi’s only contender, leftist Hamdeen Sabahi, garnered a humble 3.5 percent of the ballots, with less than 800,000 votes.

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