Egypt reopens Libya embassy after 12 years

Egypt reopened its embassy in the Libyan capital Tripoli on Saturday, 12 years after it was closed when violence gripped the country.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty inaugurated the embassy headquarters after arriving in Libya earlier in the day.

The Tripoli-based government said the reopening marked “a step reflecting the development of bilateral relations between the two countries”.

Libya has struggled to recover from the chaos that followed the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi. Two rival governments are vying for power: a UN-recognised administration in Tripoli led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah and an eastern rival backed by Khalifa Haftar.

Egypt has historically supported Haftar. The embassy reopening comes weeks after Libya's eastern-based parliament ratified a disputed maritime agreement with Turkey, angering Cairo, which said the agreement infringed on its maritime zone.