Egypt's President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and France's President Emmanuel Macron held a telephone conversation, on Sunday, to discuss the latest developments of the Libyan crisis and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) dispute. During the call, President Al-Sisi discussed the Egyptian position towards Libya, whilst asserting his country's support for the new interim executive authority in Libya. He also noted that Egypt is pushing to settle the issue in the neighbouring country through military, political, and economic means, Egyptian Presidency Spokesperson Bassam Rady said. Al-Sisi also confirmed the need to remove mercenaries from Libya, and undermine illegal foreign interference in the country's affairs, and to prepare for elections in December. For his part, Macron hailed Egypt's role in promoting the political path to resolve the Libyan crisis. Such position reinforces Egypt's role as a basic pillar of security and stability in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. He affirmed France's pride in its extended and close ties with Egypt, stressing keenness to strengthen those ties. Macron also applauded Egypt's prominent political weight in the MENA region, which promotes cooperation between Egypt and France to reach political settlements to the existing crises in the region. Al-Sisi affirmed Egypt's keenness to continue advancing the frameworks of bilateral cooperation with France at various levels. Rady said that both presidents also agreed on the importance of intensifying joint efforts to combat terrorism, restore security and stability, and achieve the desired development in the Sahel region. The phone call also tackled the latest developments regarding the GERD talks, in which Al-Sisi affirmed that Egypt attaches the utmost attention to this issue to defend its historical rights regarding River Nile waters. He noted that Egypt also attaches great importance to reaching a comprehensive and legally binding agreement between the three countries involved in the negotiations, namely Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan. This particularly relates to the rules of the dam's filling and operation. In this regard, the French President expressed his country's aspiration to reach a solution that fulfils the interests of all three parties as soon as possible.
