Egypt did not attend Arab FM meeting because of Mangoush

Egypt refused to participate in the consultative meeting of Arab foreign ministers, which was held in New York as a result of its rejection of the national unity government in Libya.

According to Egyptian sources who spoke to Cairo 24, the Egyptian delegation, headed by Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, refused to participate in the meeting, which was held on Monday, in objection to the Libyan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Najla El-Mangoush, presiding over the meeting.

Shoukry withdrew from the meeting of Arab foreign ministers, which was held earlier this month, at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Arab League in Cairo, in objection to El-Mangoush’s presidency of the meeting.

At the time, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Cairo’s position “is clear that she [El-Mangoush] does not represent a legitimate government, and that she belongs to a government whose legitimate mandate has already expired.”

It added that it believes that the legitimacy of the national unity government headed by Abdul Hamid Al-Dbeibeh has expired.

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Cairo had previously called on various international parties to recognise the government approved by the Libyan House of Representatives, headed by Fathi Bashagha.

Libya has two competing governments, a UN-backed authority headed by Al-Dbeibeh and the other headed by Bashagha. Presidential and legislative elections were due to be held in the north African state in December 2021 as the culmination of a peace process sponsored by the UN after violence in 2020.

However, so far, it seems that there is no solid political agreement to hold elections and end the transitional phase 11 years after the fall of the Muammar Gaddafi regime.