CAIRO — Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Dec. 9 that his country is working toward a comprehensive political solution to the Libyan crisis.

In an interview with the French paper Le Figaro, Sisi responded to a question on a potential military faceoff between Egypt and Turkey in Libya, saying, “Egypt will never initiate an attack. Yet [Egyptian] troops are always ready to defend their homeland and ensure its national security in the face of any form of confrontations or threats.”

He said, “Egypt is working toward a comprehensive political solution, which remains the only possible path to settle the Libyan crisis and to bring about stability to this brotherly country that shares with Egypt an 1,200-kilometer-long [746-mile-long] border. It is imperative to end foreign intervention that has threatened Libya’s stability with the presence of mercenaries and the proliferation of weapons among extremist militias."

Sisi added, “The Egyptian policy consists of building excellent relations with its neighbors through dialogue. Turkey, like any other country in the region, must abide by international law and the law of the sea and refrain from taking any unilateral action in the absence of consultations or at the expense of the region’s security and safety.”