Egypt goes against international current with Libya support
Amid accusations that Egypt is sending weapons to Libya in violation of the arms ban, Cairo is still working to convince the UN Security Council to support Gen. Hifter and the Libyan National Army.
CAIRO — Egypt has been accused of violating the ban on the export of arms to Libya. US special envoy to Libya Jonathan Winer said in a BBC interview Jan. 10 that a UN expert committee report containing pictures confirms the existence of evidence that Egypt is sending arms to Libya, but he did not specify the type of arms that are being transferred.
Meanwhile, Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid denied the accusations and said that Egypt is committed to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1970 (2011) and that there are no breaches in this regard.
The UN imposed an embargo on exporting arms to Libya in 2011, when former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi launched a crackdown against pro-democracy protesters in the country. But that did not prevent the entry of illegal weapons to extremist and terrorist groups in violation of the ban amid the chaos plaguing the country.
On Oct. 3, 2014, gunmen in the city of Derna announced in a video broadcast online the establishment of the Islamic State (IS) in Libya as part of what they called the “Caliphate State.” In November, the organization's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, accepted their allegiance in an audiotape posted on the internet. This led Libya to face an unprecedented security challenge.
