Libya unity government says Egypt threat 'declaration of war'

TRIPOLI: Libya's UN-recognised Government of National Accord on Sunday denounced Egypt's warning of military intervention in Libya, labelling it a "declaration of war".

"This is a hostile act, direct interference and amounts to a declaration of war," the GNA said in a statement. The war of words comes on the eve of a virtual meeting of Arab League foreign ministers on Libya, in which the GNA declined to participate. On Saturday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warned that if pro-GNA forces advanced on the strategic city of Sirte - some 450 kilometres (280 miles) east of Tripoli - it could provoke a "direct" intervention by Cairo. For the Libyan state, "interference in its internal affairs, attacks on its sovereignty, whether by declarations... like those of the Egyptian president or by support for putschists, militias and mercenaries, is unacceptable," the GNA said. The GNA called on the international community to "assume its responsibilities with regard to this escalation". It said it was open to "all impartial mediation... under the aegis of the UN" but rejected "unilateral or extrajudicial initiatives". Oil-rich Libya has been torn by violence, drawing in tribal militias, jihadists and mercenaries since the 2011 toppling and killing of longtime dictator Muammar Qadhafi in a Western-backed uprising.