The Egyptian foreign ministry stressed the need for violence and armed clashes to end in neighbouring Libya in a Thursday statement. The ministry's political action group met to discuss the situation on Wednesday as the situation worsened in Libya with people attempting to flee the militia fighting in their hundreds. The ministry statement reported that the meeting "emphasised the importance of the results of the meeting of the foreign ministers of Libya's neighbouring countries Algeria and Tunisia", pointing out the "need to respect the unity of Libya, its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the full cessation of all forms of violence and armed clashes". Participants in the meeting praised the formation of a new parliament. The majority of the members of the new parliament met in Tobruk last week due to the violence in Libya's two major cities Benghazi and the capital Tripoli. Cairo is expected to host a meeting for representatives of Libya's neighbouring countries to discuss the approval of "a number of ideas, reccomendations and a set of proposals in solidarity and support for the Libyan people", according to the foreign ministry. Last week Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry visited the Libya-Tunisia border to help facilitate the evacuation of Egyptians from Libya. In July 23 Egyptian workers were killed in the shelling of a home in Tripoli as the violence intensified. Militia have battled for control of the Tripoli airport resulting in the damage of many of the aircraft there. Violence has ebbed and flowed in Libya since the overthrow of former president Muammar Gaddafi who was killed in October 2011 by militant fighters. Violence surged once more earlier this year when retired General Khalifa Haftar began a campaign to root out "terrorism" in Benghazi. Libya's government denounced his actions and declared him an outlaw.
