Egypt Reopens Embassy in Libya After 12-Year Closure

Egypt has reopened its embassy in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, after 12 years of closure following the outbreak of violence in the country.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty officially inaugurated the embassy's headquarters on Saturday after arriving in Libya earlier in the day.

The Tripoli-based government described the reopening as an important development in diplomatic relations between the two countries.

In a statement, the government said the move represented “a step reflecting the development of bilateral relations between the two countries”.

Egypt closed its embassy in 2014 as violence escalated in Libya following years of political instability after the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Libya has since struggled to restore political stability, with two rival administrations competing for control of the country.

The UN-recognised government, led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, operates from Tripoli, while a rival administration in eastern Libya is backed by military commander Khalifa Haftar.

Egypt has traditionally supported Haftar and his allies in eastern Libya.

The reopening of the embassy comes weeks after Libya's eastern-based parliament ratified a controversial maritime agreement with Turkey, a move that angered Cairo over concerns that the deal infringed on Egypt's maritime boundaries.