Egyptian president meets Libyan house speaker, warlord Khalifa Haftar in Cairo

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Tuesday met with the speaker of the Tobruk-based Libyan House of Representatives and putschist Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar, Anadolu Agency reported.

A statement by the Egyptian Presidency said that al-Sisi received both Aguila Saleh and Haftar in Cairo in the presence of Abbas Kamel, Egypt’s intelligence chief.

The statement gave no further details.

In recent months, relations between the North African neighbors improved following Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly’s visit to the Libyan capital Tripoli on April 20, when Egypt expressed support for Libya’s new national unity government.

In February, Libya’s rival political groups agreed to form an interim unity government to lead the country to elections this December.

A popular revolution ousted Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The country then fell into political deadlock and was engulfed by civil war, with warlord Haftar seeking to seize power and overthrow the internationally recognized government.

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