Libyan Chief of Staff Youssef al-Mankoush arrived in Cairo on Wednesday on a private jet in the first official visit by a high-ranking Libyan military official since Libya’s revolution.
Mankoush is scheduled to meet with Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, Sami Anan, military chief of staff, and other officials to discuss military assistance to the Libyan army.
Libyan tribal leaders and politicians on Tuesday declared the eastern Cyrenaica area an autonomous federal region, and chose Sheikh Ahmed al-Zubair al-Sharif al-Sanusi as president of its supreme council.
But Mustafa Abdul Jalil, president of the Libyan Transitional Council, on Wednesday threatened to use force to prevent the division of the country, inviting the people of Cyrenaica to a dialogue, and accusing other Arab states of inciting sedition in the region.
