Egypt reopens its embassy in Tripoli after 12 years, in a shift towards Libya's west

The reopening ceremony

Abdelatty reopened the embassy’s historic headquarters in a ceremony attended by al-Baour, according to a statement from Egypt’s Foreign Ministry. The minister said the building’s historical significance “aligns with the deep-rooted human and cultural ties that characterize Egyptian-Libyan relations”, and described the building as part of the memory of Tripoli itself, a witness to the city’s political and diplomatic history. The ministry said keeping the historic building in use as the embassy gives its history a living continuation, linking the authenticity of the place with the demands of the present.

A 12-year absence

Egypt closed its Tripoli embassy in January 2014, when many foreign missions shut down amid an escalating conflict that left rival governments in Tripoli and in the east of the country. The closure followed the kidnapping of five embassy staff by gunmen. Egypt’s diplomatic mission resumed work in Tripoli in May 2021, but the historic headquarters itself stayed closed until Saturday. Abdelatty’s visit was the first by an Egyptian foreign minister to Tripoli since 2011. He was in the city also to attend the 22nd session of the executive council of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States.

A shift towards the west

Cairo has long been seen as backing Khalifa Haftar, the military commander whose forces dominate eastern Libya, where a rival government is based. The reopening, and the talks that came with it, signal a readjustment: Egypt is now engaging directly with the internationally recognised Government of National Unity in Tripoli, led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, while keeping its eastern relationships. Abdelatty met Dbeibah during the visit, and the two discussed making trade easier; Dbeibah praised the role Egyptian companies and workers have played in rebuilding Libya, according to Egypt’s Foreign Ministry. Analysts quoted by Al Jazeera called the reopening a fundamental political shift and a sign that Cairo is rebalancing its Libya policy.

The maritime dispute

In his talks with Dbeibah, Abdelatty raised Egypt’s objections to a 2019 agreement between Turkey and Libya’s then government in Tripoli, which draws a maritime boundary between the two countries in the eastern Mediterranean. Egypt, Greece and Cyprus oppose the deal, saying it ignores the rights of Greek islands, including Crete, which lies between the Turkish and Libyan coasts. Libya’s eastern-based parliament ratified the agreement on 20 October, after opposing it for years, and the European Union said the next day that the deal infringed on other countries’ rights and could have no legal effect on them. Dbeibah told Egyptian broadcaster Al-Qahera News that officials from both countries would discuss the maps and their respective claims at their next meeting.

Health and energy deals

The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on health cooperation during the visit, in the presence of Libya’s health minister, Mohamed Al-Ghouj. Abdelatty also met Libya’s acting oil minister at the reopened embassy, calling for faster progress on gas pipelines between the two countries and on plans to refine Libyan crude in Egypt for export. The Libyan minister said he would travel to Cairo for further talks, according to Libya’s state news agency.