Qatari Defenсe Minister in Talks With Turkish Counterpart, Libya's GNA Interior Minister

DOHA (Sputnik) - Qatari Minister of State for Defenсe Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah has held negotiations with his Turkish counterpart, Hulusi Akar, and Fathi Bashagha, the interior minister of Libya's UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), amid Cairo's decision on the possible deployment of armed forces to Libya, the ministry said.

"The Qatari government's deputy prime minister and minister of state for defence affairs, Khalid Al Attiyah, met with Libyan [GNA] Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha in the Turkish capital of Ankara. They discussed the latest developments in Libya", the Qatari Defense Ministry wrote on Twitter.

Apart from that, Al Attiyah held talks with Turkish Defence Minister Akar in Ankara, focusing on "bilateral defence relations and the possibility to develop and strengthen them", the ministry added.

The talks were held in Ankara late on Monday.

Members of the self-proclaimed eastern Libyan National Army (LNA) special forces gather in the city of Benghazi, on their way to reportedly back up fellow LNA fighters on the frontline west of the city of Sirte, facing forces loyal to the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), on June 18, 2020. - The resurgent GNA has vowed to push on for Sirte, late Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's hometown and the last major settlement before the traditional boundary between western Libya and strongman Khalifa Haftar's stronghold in the east.

© AFP 2023 / ABDULLAH DOMA

In late June, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi announced that his country, supporting the Libyan National Army, was ready to train and arm Libyan tribes in order to assist their effort against foreign interference. The president also said that Egypt's direct intervention to counteract Turkish forces would be internationally legitimate.

In mid-July, Libya's Tobruk-based parliament gave permission to the Egyptian armed forces to intervene in the conflict in the North African country. On Monday, the Egyptian parliament approved the possible dispatch of troops to carry out combat missions abroad, thereafter giving Sisi a mandate to intervene in the conflict in Libya.