The Egyptian parliament voted unanimously July 20 to support the deployment of the national army outside the country’s border, potentially bringing it into conflict with the Turkish army within Libya. The outcome of that battle, if it happens at all, is unknown. However, any deployment of Egyptian troops to Libya in support of the eastern forces of military strongman Khalifa Hifter sounds like a further death knell in a longer struggle — that for diplomatic hegemony within the Maghreb, placing Algeria, the largest country in Africa, firmly on the back burner.
Almost from the onset of hostilities in Libya, Algeria and the African Union (AU) have remained broadly neutral, seeking to mediate between the warring parties of one of the world’s longest running and most intractable conflicts. However, almost 10 years after the revolution that saw the ousting of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, no diplomatic breakthrough has led to any lasting pause in the fighting and — with the ever metastasizing number of combatants entering the conflict — the odds of any regionally brokered deal leading to lasting stability looks increasingly dim.