Libyan military chief makes unannounced visit to Cairo

By Mahmoud al-Husseini

CAIRO (AA) - Khalifa Haftar, the commander of forces loyal to Libya’s Tobruk-based government, arrived in Cairo on Thursday on an unannounced visit, according to a source at Cairo International Airport.

"Haftar arrived aboard a private plane to discuss recent developments in Libya with Egyptian officials," the source said, preferring anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to media.

Haftar’s visit comes only one week after Fayez al-Sarraj, head of Libya’s UN-backed unity government, also visited the Egyptian capital, where he met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and other officials.

The Egyptian authorities have yet to comment on Haftar’s Thursday visit.

In recent weeks, Cairo has hosted a number of Libyan politicians and media figures who have come to discuss the Skhirat agreement, signed in late 2015 between Libya’s political rivals.

Libya has remained in a state of turmoil since 2011, when a bloody uprising ended with the ouster and death of longtime strongman Muammar Gaddafi.

Since then, the country’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of government, one in Tobruk and another in capital Tripoli.