Libya should lead anti-IS effort, Egypt's Foreign Minister says

PanARMENIAN.Net - Libya needs to form a unified government before the United States and European allies opt for any military intervention against thousands of Islamic State fighters in the chaotic North African country, Egypt's foreign minister said on Tuesday, February 9, according to Reuters.

"This has to be a Libyan-led process," Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told Reuters in an interview, while acknowledging that efforts to forge a single government from two rivals in neighboring Libya have been "difficult."

Shoukry suggested that international intervention without Libyan approval could backfire.

"The experience in the past ... might have been met by the Libyan people with a little bit of concern, the outcome of the last intervention," he said, referring to turmoil that followed in the wake of the West's help in bringing down Gadaffi.

"I think we all recognize that this is an issue that primarily will have to be dealt with by Libyans," he said, according to Reuters.

Despite an agreement signed in December, Libya's rival governments have failed to finalize arrangements for a Government of National Accord.