Egypt reopens Tripoli embassy after 12-year closure

Egypt's foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty, reopened the country's embassy in Tripoli on Saturday, restoring a diplomatic mission in the Libyan capital after about 12 years and shifting Cairo's ties with Libya's rival administrations.

Dawn and The Rio Times reported that the embassy had been closed since 2014. Africanews reported that it had been closed since 2012, when chaos swept Libya after the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi. Dawn said Cairo's foreign affairs ministry announced the reopening in a statement.

Libya is divided between a Tripoli-based government and an eastern administration. Dawn reported that Cairo had been one of the most prominent backers of eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar, a rival of the Tripoli government. Africanews reported that Egypt is now mending fences with Tripoli and seeking to strengthen energy cooperation.

"All we want now is to begin, on the technical level, the implementation phase," Abdelatty said at the embassy's opening ceremony, according to Africanews. He cited "promising projects, particularly the laying of a gas pipeline linking Libya to Egypt," and said Egypt has the facilities needed to liquefy natural gas, the outlet reported.

Abdelatty also called for speeding up a proposed project to refine Libyan oil in Egypt for re-export, restore Libya's own refineries and re-establish electricity links between the two countries, according to Africanews. Africanews reported that Cairo's shift away from Haftar's administration follows ratification of a disputed maritime agreement with Turkey; Egypt says the deal infringes its maritime zone.

The Rio Times reported that Abdelatty was received on arrival by Walid Al-Lafi, Libya's minister of state for communication and political affairs. Taher Al-Baour, who runs Libya's foreign ministry on an interim basis, attended the inauguration, according to The Rio Times. The visit coincided with the 22nd session of the Executive Council of CEN-SAD, the Community of Sahel-Saharan States, a regional bloc of mostly Sahel and North African states, the outlet reported.

Dbeibah met Abdelatty the same day and the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding in the health sector, The Rio Times reported. The Rio Times also reported that the date when an ambassador and staff would start work was not confirmed, and that it was not known whether consular services would resume or who would head the embassy. It was not known whether Egypt would also act in the east of Libya, the outlet reported.