CAIRO (AP) – Egypt on Monday called for an international push to disband militias in neighboring Libya after weeks of inter-militia fighting wreaked havoc in the country, saying that the violence could prompt international intervention.
Speaking in Cairo to envoys from countries that neighbor the North African state, Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri said the escalation of violence threatens the entire region with spillover effects such as weapons trafficking and cross-border infiltration by extremists.
“The developments in Libya have left an impact we have felt on the security of neighboring countries, with the presence and movement of extremist and terrorist groups whose activists are not only limited to the Libyan territories but also spillover to neighboring countries,” he said.
“This can also impact countries outside the region,” Shukri said, adding: “All this may push toward different types of interventions in Libyan affairs that we should work to avoid.”
Joined by his counterparts from Tunisia, Algeria, Sudan and Chad along with chiefs of the Arab League and the African Union, Shurki urged the international community to work on disbanding all militias, “without distinction and simultaneously.”