Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry met his Libyan counterpart Mohammed Al-Dairi and a number of American and European officials to discuss fighting militants in neighbouring Libya, according to statements from Egypt's foreign ministry. Egypt conducted airstrikes in the eastern Libyan city of Derna in coordination with the internationally recognised Libyan government hours after the Islamic State group released a gruesome video of the beheading of Christian Egyptians who travelled there seeking work before they were kidnapped in December and January. Shoukry has been meeting diplomats in the United States where he travelled last week to attend a Security Council meeting, requested by Egypt on the Libyan situation. The Egyptian FM met with US Secretary of State John Kerry and national security advisor to the American president Susan Rice late Thursday. He discussed with both high-profile diplomats the importance of immediate action from the international community to help Libya emerge from turmoil. Shoukry also discussed means of cooperation between US and Egypt in anti-terrorism related topics and other bilateral relations, spokesperson to the ministry Badr Abdel Ati said in the statement. The Egyptian minister also met with UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon to highlight the importance of intervention from the Security Council in Libya. Egypt on Monday bombed Islamic State group weapons caches and training camps to avenge "the bloodshed and to seek retribution from the killers," the military said. But Washington still stressed the need for a UN-led political solution as the best way out of the crisis in Libya, where rival governments and militia groups battle for control and the country's vast oil riches. Source : Ahram online
