The Libyan presidential council announced the formation of the new Libyan government of national unity Tuesday. This announcement was expected to take place Sunday, but was postponed by the council. The government, with 32 ministers, is supposed to end the conflict in Libya between the two warring parties, according to a UN-backed plan. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry discussed with the Libyan Foreign Minister of the Tobruk government, Mohammed Al-Dairi, on Monday the possibilities of overcoming the Libyan crisis and efforts aiming to form a national unity government. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zaid said in a statement that both sides agreed to support the formation of the national unity government in Libya. Shoukry also discussed the status of Libyans in Egypt and expressed Egypt's commitment to facilitate their residency. Both ministries agreed to continue consultation over the current situation. Al-Dairi told journalists, after the meeting, that Libya is keen to form the national unity government as soon as possible, to lift the sanctions on the Libyan army arming. Libya is currently battling with the "Islamic State" (IS), especially since the latter carried out several attacks on Libyan oil facilities. He said Libya will not welcome any external interference. IS is trying to compensate for its losses of Syrian and Iraqi terrirtory by seizing more cities in Libya, which was obvious in the recent attacks that resulted in the deaths of 70 people, according to Al-Dairi. He urged the international community to lift the embargo on the Libyan army so that it can confront IS, especially after more terrorists entered Libya from Tunisia. Further, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi discussed joint collaboration to fight terrorism, especially in Libya, in a phone call with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Monday. Presidency spokesperson Alaa Youssef said in a statement that Al-Sisi and Renzi affirmed the importance of supporting the formation of the new Libyan government as the first step to achieve security in the country. Renzi also expressed Italy's keenness to collaborate with Egypt in several fields, praising the development Egypt witnesses in many fields, according to the statement. Al-Sisi highlighted the importance of reinforcing the Egyptian-Italian relations. The Libyan presidential council that is supposed to form the government said Sunday in a statement that progress was achieved in the negotiations, but that they needed two more days to reach the final result. The delay in forming the national unity government reflects the conflict between the warring Libyan groups. Libya has been governed by two warring governments since 2014, one in Tobruk and one in Tripoli. The UN-backed agreement, signed in Morocco, aimed to find solutions to the points of conflict between both governments, but the heads of the two parliament said the MPs who signed this agreement only represent themselves. The agreement gave the Tunisia-based presidential council one month to form a national unity government. After the formation of the new government, the Tobruk parliament will have only 10 days to agree upon it. The EU council said in a statement that it fully supports the Libyan Political Agreement that was signed on 17 December 2015 and welcomes the formation of the Presidency Council, presided over by Fayyez al-Sarraj. It condemned, however, the recent terrorist attacks against oil installations in Libya and all attempts to disrupt the stabilisation of the country. The EU called on all parties in Libya to ensure unhindered humanitarian access and security of humanitarian aid workers to facilitate the assistance and protection of civilians in need.
