Mohamed Siala, Sameh Chokri held talks ahead of the 153rd session of the Council of the Arab League in Cairo

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Libyan Foreign Minister of the Government of National Accord, Mohamed Taher Siala, on Wednesday held talks on regional issues with his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Chokri, ahead of the 153rd session of the Arab League Council at the level of foreign ministers.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry's External Media Directorate said Wednesday that the meeting between Siala and Chokri took place as part of its "consultations and coordination with a number of countries".

Allied to Marshal Khalifa Haftar, Egypt maintains minimal relations with the internationally-recognized government of National Accord, which accuses it of interfering in Libyan affairs by sometimes pronouncing itself on internal Libyan issues such as the fair distribution of wealth in Libya.

During the term of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi as the current chairman of the African Union in 2019, no initiative was taken by the pan-African organization to resolve the Libyan crisis despite the promises made by the Egyptian leader.

Siala also met separately on Wednesday with the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, in Cairo, as well as with his Lebanese counterpart, Nassif Hitti, sources said, adding that the head of the Libyan diplomacy stressed the need to unify the Arab position and full coordination to resolve the Libyan crisis and stop the war in the capital, Tripoli.

This 153rd session of the Arab League Council comes at a time when the political process in Libya is reaching a crucial turning point with the surprise resignation of the representative of the UN Secretary-General and head of his Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Ghassan Salamé who was overseeing the launching of a three-pronged economic, political and military dialogue aimed at finding a way out of the Libyan crisis.

Foreign Minister Mohamed Siala arrived in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, from Morocco, where he attended the eighth ministerial conference of the 5+5 countries on migration and development held in the city of Marrakech.

-0- PANA BY/IS/MTA/VAO 4March2020