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On June 24th, Turkish Parliament speaker Mustafa Shantoub said that if French President Emmanuel Macron was interested in peace in Libya, France should stop supporting Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
#Breaking_News
Turkish Parliament Speaker Mustafa Shantoub: If the French president is interested in peace in Libya, as he claims, he should give up dragging the country into chaos by supporting Haftar.#Libya pic.twitter.com/zCX61xfmPB— Arraed LG+ (@ArraedLG) June 24, 2020
Ankara also said that it was France who was playing a “dangerous game” in Libya, and not Turkey.
The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that the allegations of Russian mercenaries in Libya were from dubious sources and that they should be investigated thoroughly.
الخارجية الروسية تقول إن مزاعم الوجود العسكري الروسي في ليبيا تستند لمصادر محل شك وموسكو تطالب بالتحقيق في التقارير
— سكاي نيوز عربية-عاجل (@SkyNewsArabia_B) June 23, 2020
Meanwhile, Aguila Saleh Issa, the president of the Libyan House of Representatives, based in Tobruk said that the “Libyan people” are officially asking Egypt to intervene with military forces if the need for this arises.
#القاهرة — عقيلة صالح: الشعب الليبي يطلب رسميا من مصر التدخل بقوات عسكرية إذا اقتضت الضرورة
— ا لـ حـ ـد ث (@AlHadath) June 24, 2020
According to Saleh, this would be a legitimate intervention if the Turkish-backed militants, and the Government of National Accord’s (GNA) forces crossed “the red line.”
#القاهرة — عقيلة صالح: التدخل المصري سيكون دفاعا شرعيا عن النفس إذا تجاوزت الميليشيات الخط الأحمر
— ا لـ حـ ـد ث (@AlHadath) June 24, 2020
This red line means a breakthrough by the GNA in Sirte, for which a fight is brewing, but is still calm.
#القاهرة — عقيلة صالح: في حال "اختراق" سرت سنطلب مساندة القوات المصرية
— ا لـ حـ ـد ث (@AlHadath) June 24, 2020
Finally, Saleh said that Turkey had brought more than 15,000 mercenaries to Tripoli.
عقيلة صالح: تركيا جلبت أكثر من 15 ألف مسلح من المرتزقة إلى العاصمة الليبية طرابلس
— سكاي نيوز عربية-عاجل (@SkyNewsArabia_B) June 24, 2020
Hours earlier, on the evening of June 23rd, Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry said that Egypt aimed to start a ceasefire in Libya and initiate a peace process.
وزير الخارجية المصري لسكاي نيوز عربية: نهدف إلى وقف إطلاق النار بليبيا والبدء في عملية سياسية
— سكاي نيوز عربية-عاجل (@SkyNewsArabia_B) June 23, 2020
He did, however, also say that Egypt opposes any terrorists and their supports and would not allow Libya to fall in the hands of militants.
▪️Mısır Dışişleri Bakanı Shoukry:
➖“Mısır, teröre ve destekçilerine tolerans göstermeyecek.”
➖“Mısır, Libya’nın terör örgütlerinin ve milis gruplarının eline geçmemesi için elinden geleni yapacak.”— Bedrettin (@bedbolukbasi) June 23, 2020
Egypt, hosting a meeting of the Arab League, proposed a draft resolution on rejecting and preventing any foreign interference in Libya, which is entirely aimed against Turkey.
مشروع قرار مصري في الجامعة العربية: رفض ومنع التدخلات الخارجية بليبيا #العربية_عاجل https://t.co/a1vIGVFnOW
— العربية عاجل (@AlArabiya_Brk) June 23, 2020
There were reports that shelling by the GNA had begun on LNA positions in Sirte, but those were denied.
عاجل | الجيش الليبي ينفي أي استهداف لمواقعه من قبل الميليشيات في سرت https://t.co/5t3eIvPjBE pic.twitter.com/P5K4BD4vND
— صحيفة الشرق الأوسط (@aawsat_News) June 23, 2020
It would appear that the anti-aircraft missile system of the LNA was being tested around Sirte.
No air strikes or clashes in or around Sirte today . This was a test of an LNA anti aircraft missile system pic.twitter.com/0NW7koNqDr
— Ali Ahmed (@LibyaPro2) June 23, 2020
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