CAIRO — Egypt has been reaching out to the forces active in the Libyan crisis, especially the neighboring Maghreb countries of Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. On July 26, speaker of the Libyan Tobruk-based parliament Aguila Saleh met with Moroccan officials in Morocco, followed by a call between the Tunisian President Kais Saied and Egypt's Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on July 30 and another between Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Algerian counterpart Sabri Boukadoum on Aug. 2. The meetings focused on how to reach a political solution to the Libyan crisis and avoid military action.

Egypt supports Saleh and eastern military strongman Khalifa Hifter, commander of the Libyan National Army, against Libya’s Government of National Accord, led by Fayez al-Sarraj. The Maghreb countries have taken a neutral stance.

Mohamed al-Orabi, former Egyptian minister of foreign affairs and chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee in the Egyptian Parliament, told Al-Monitor that Egypt is contacting Maghreb countries with the aim of reaching a consensus on the Libyan crisis, but such efforts need time.

Orabi criticized Tunisia and Algeria for being too preoccupied with their internal situations to pay attention to the years-long Libyan crisis or coordinate with Egypt on solutions. He stressed that stability in Libya is vital to the national security of all these countries, not Egypt alone, and that strong coordination is needed between them to address the issue.