Egypt supports the pro-Western LNA faction, led by Khalifa Haftar (who lived in Northern Virginia for many years).
The article also provides this background and analysis"
"Libya has descended into deadly chaos following a 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi, with the east and west of the country ruled by rival administrations backed by armed militiamen. Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, leader of the Libyan National Army (LNA) and who is supported by Egypt and others, marched on Tripoli last year with the intention of toppling the UN- backed Government of National Accord there.
However, the territorial gains won by the LNA early in its 15-month campaign were rolled back after Turkey deployed thousands of Syrian mercenaries, armed drones and military advisers on the side of the Tripoli government. The GNA is now adamant to retake the coastal city of Sirte, something that Mr El Sisi described as a “red line” for Egypt...
(Analysts) said Egypt’s military intervention could tempt Turkey to expand its foothold in Libya and persuade Qatar, another enemy of Cairo, to spend more bankrolling Egypt’s enemies there.
But they also held out the possibility that Egyptian troops would cross into Libya, fan out in the eastern region and protect the oil region but not advance westward to the frontlines around the coastal city of Sirte while relying heavily on air power to pin down enemy forces."
I haven’t read enough about Libya so I could be wrong but it appears to be that Khalifa Haftar is exactly the kind of an Arab Strongman we need to back, especially in Middle East where the best form of a government is a secular but ruthless Arab Strongman.
FYI, Maybe Erdogan’s attention and resources (and more of his Foreign Legion jihadis in Syria) will be drawn into the Libyan front, in pursuit of oil revenues to sustain their movement (and fill Erdogan’s pockets).
I wonder how much the world would push back, if Egypt simply moved in and took over Libya.
This is apparently ethnic Arabs (backed by Egypt, most of the Arab world, France and Russia) against ethnic Turks, Berbers and everyone else (backed most prominently by Qatar and Turkey). The ethnic Arab side is a coalition of secularists and Islamists. The ethnic everybody else coalition is a real mishmash of ethnic and religious interests, but appears to have Islamists in the driver’s seat, as opposed to the ethnic Arab coalition which has the secularist Haftar in charge. In many ways, it’s similar to the kinds of political coalitions anywhere else in the world, except the voting consists of sending expensive ordnance downrange. Given that the national economy is in ruins, due to the ongoing conflict, thereby cratering tax revenues, foreign funding can be a huge factor in deciding who wins.
Ping.
Ethiopia just started filling a dam on the Blue Nile. So the Egyptian military might have a lot on its plate before long.