The Libyan Government of National Unity announced its rejection of the Egyptian-Greek meeting’s position on Sunday in Cairo on Libya, describing it as “rejected interference in Libyan affairs and a call for division and war.”
This came in a statement by government spokesman Mohamed Hammouda, who stressed that the meeting, which took place “in the absence of a representative of the Libyans”, represented “a challenge to the Libyan will for peace” and “an attempt to underestimate the right of the Libyans to protect their interests.”
He added, “The Libyan Political Agreement is purely Libyan ownership, and under the auspices of the United Nations, it does not impose on the Libyans any specific form of a solution without their consent or against their will.”
“Repeated attempts to indicate the expiration of the Libyan Political Agreement is an unacceptable interference in Libyan affairs and an invitation to division and war,” Hammouda said.
“It is not useful to question the legitimacy of the government of national unity,” and that it “is determined by the Libyan people and no one else.”
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Egypt and Greece renewed their rejection to an agreement concluded by the Libyan government in Tripoli with Turkey regarding energy exploration in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
“The outgoing unity government in Tripoli does not have the authority to conclude any international agreements or memoranda of understanding,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said in a press conference with his Greek counterpart, Nikos Dendias, on Sunday.
Shoukry called on the international community to take “A position on the illegitimacy of the Libyan government,” adding that “The government came by virtue of an agreement and understanding that was formulated by the United Nations, and therefore the United Nations should not be silent regarding the full and honest implementation of what it formulated and approved.”