Egypt reopened its embassy in Libya's capital Tripoli on Saturday, November 7, after a 12-year absence, the foreign affairs ministry in Cairo said in a statement, in a move Reuters described as a rapprochement with Libya's western-based administration.

Source: Reuters

Egypt closed its Tripoli embassy in 2014, when many foreign missions in the capital shut down amid an escalating conflict that saw rival governments set themselves up in Tripoli and in the east of the North African country.

What Cairo said at the reopening

Egypt's foreign affairs minister Badr Abdelatty was quoted in the ministry statement as saying at the reopening ceremony that the historical significance of the embassy building "aligns with the deep-rooted human and cultural ties that characterize Egyptian-Libyan relations".

Source: Egyptian Foreign Ministry statement via Reuters

MENA Today, reporting the same ministry announcement, also described the reopening as ending a 12-year hiatus in Egypt's diplomatic presence in the Libyan capital.

Source: MENA Today

Why the move is a shift for Egypt

The reopening marks a shift for Cairo, which has been one of the most prominent backers of eastern-based military commander Khalifa Haftar, a rival of the Tripoli-based government, Reuters reported.

Libya, an oil producer, has been plunged into chaos since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011, and the country remains divided between rival administrations.

In the east, based in Benghazi, there is the Libyan National Army under military commander Khalifa Haftar, the House of Representatives, and a government led by Osama Hammad. In the west, the internationally recognised Government of National Unity is headed by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, alongside the High Council of State in Tripoli.

12 years closed

Egypt shut its Tripoli embassy in 2014, when many foreign missions left the capital as rival governments were set up in the west and the east of Libya.

What is solid

  • Egypt reopened its embassy in Tripoli on Saturday, November 7, after a 12-year absence, according to Egypt's foreign affairs ministry statement reported by Reuters.
  • Egypt closed the embassy in 2014 amid an escalating conflict, when rival governments were set up in Tripoli and in eastern Libya.
  • Libya remains divided between an eastern administration backed by Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army and the internationally recognised Government of National Unity in Tripoli.

What is only claimed

  • What the reopening means in practice for Egypt's long-standing backing of Khalifa Haftar in the east — Reuters described the move as a rapprochement with the western-based administration and a shift for Cairo, but neither government has announced any change to Egypt's relations with the eastern authorities.

What happens next

Neither Cairo nor Tripoli has published further details of the reopened embassy's work in the reports carried on Saturday. The reopening itself is the confirmed development: after 12 years, Egypt again has an embassy open in the Libyan capital, even as Libya's east-west division remains in place.