Algeria attempts to ward off Egyptian military interference in Libya

The Algerian government is doing its best to ward off the Egyptian military interference in Libya. Instead it is seeking to impose a political solution for the Libyan crisis, Arabi 21 reported on Friday.

Egypt has been trying to mobilise international support for military interference in Libya since last week, when ISIS disseminated a video of the beheading of 21 Coptic Egyptians in Libya.

Algeria is eager to conclude its months-long efforts to come up with a political solution for the crisis in Libya. It has been calling for the formation of a national unity government in order to maintain the sovereignty and unity of the Libyan territory.

An Algerian diplomatic source told Arabi 21 that his country completely refuses the idea of military interference and the intervention of any foreign forces in Libya.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “Algeria has reservations with regard to Egyptian military interference. This is an Algerian principle based on respecting the sovereignty of any state.”

On Friday, Algeria announced its success in bringing the armed Malian groups together and implementing a ceasefire. It hopes to copy this success in the Libya issue. Therefore, it has intensified its mobilisation against any military interference in Libya.

Libya’s neighbours are going to meet in the near future to discuss the country’s issue, according to the source. “Principally, Algeria refuses any of its soldiers to act outside its lands,” the sources said. “It refused to dispatch its soldiers to Mali in 2012.”

Meanwhile, the Algerian security expert Omar bin-Jana told Arabi 21 that the Egyptian attack against ISIS in Libya was not planned. “What has it achieved?” he wondered, adding that the attack might have targeted civilians.

He also added, “It is impossible for the aerial attacks to end ISIS as the international alliance has failed to do this until now.” Based upon the chaos left after the military interference against the Gadhafi regime, he said, repeating the same thing would be counter-productive.

Former Algerian Minister Abdul-Aziz al-Rihabi said that the political solution has been sought by all countries. He ruled out that the latest Egyptian attack achieved international support.

However, he recognised that the political solution is very hard to achieve, saying that every armed group in Libya is being supported by an international power. “If these powers accepted to reach a political solution, then a political solution could be achieved,” he said.