Egypt's foreign minister Sameh Shoukry said on Monday that the international community should recognise Libya's General Khalifa Haftar and his forces in their fight against "terrorists" in the country. In an interview with the Washington Post, Shoukry stated that Haftar's forces, which Egypt officially supports, are an important component in the battle against the expansion of Islamist militants. The role of General Haftar – who controls militia forces in the northeastern part of Libya – in the coming National Accord government has been a subject of controversy, with Egypt promoting him as a nominee for defence minister while the Islamist factions in the UN brokered government reject his presence. General Haftar visited Egypt late January where he held a series of meetings with Egyptian officials over the situation in Libya, with a focus on the Islamic State militant group in the country. The Egyptian foreign minister also added that the international community should not intervene militarily in Libya unless a unified Libyan government is formed and requests military assistance. Shoukry is currently visiting Washington where he has held talks with the administration of US President Barack Obama and officials in Congress. On the situation in Syria, Shoukry stressed that the focus by the international community on the fate and role of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in the country's political transition has not led to any positive result. "We have tried to insulate ourselves from this discussion," he told the Washington Post. source:Ahram Online
